Overview
- A peer-reviewed study in Science Advances led by Sven Isaksson reports plant toxin residues on small quartz weapon tips from the Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter in KwaZulu-Natal.
- Chemical tests detected buphandrin on five of ten points from a layer dated to roughly 60,000 years.
- Researchers identify the bulb of Boophone disticha as the most likely source of the poison, a plant still known locally for both hunting and medicinal uses.
- Buphandrin can kill small animals within 20 to 30 minutes and in humans can trigger nausea, muscle weakness, and respiratory paralysis, with effectiveness dependent on preparation and dose.
- The finding constitutes the earliest direct proof of poisoned hunting weapons, surpassing the previous direct example from an ancient Egyptian grave about 4,000 years old, with detection enabled by the toxin's chemical stability.