Overview
- A Science Advances paper published January 7 reports plant-alkaloid residues on five microlithic arrow tips from the Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter in KwaZulu-Natal.
- Analyses identified buphandrine and epibuphanisine, compounds linked to Boophone disticha (gifbol), on the quartz points.
- Geochemical and magnetic tests corroborated the ~60,000-year context, and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry detected the stable toxins.
- Residues closely matched those on 18th-century southern African arrows in Swedish museum collections, suggesting long-standing knowledge or repeated rediscovery.
- The evidence pushes confirmed use of weaponized toxins far earlier than the previous <7,000-year record, and the slow-acting poison implies hunters tracked wounded prey for prolonged periods, with researchers noting other labile toxins may no longer be detectable.