Overview
- Researchers tested 10 quartz points from the Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter in KwaZulu-Natal, finding toxic residues on five.
- Targeted microchemical and biomolecular analyses identified Amaryllidaceae alkaloids, including buphandrine and epibuphanisine.
- Chemical signatures point to Boophone disticha as the most likely source, consistent with toxins on later historical arrowheads.
- The poison would have slowed prey rather than killing instantly, suggesting planning and cause‑and‑effect reasoning in hunting.
- Published in Science Advances, the study moves the earliest confirmed use of poisoned hunting weapons far earlier than mid‑Holocene examples.