Overview
- A Science Advances study led by Stockholm University’s Sven Isaksson analyzed quartz tips from the Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter in KwaZulu-Natal.
- Residue testing identified Buphandrin on five of ten points, with additional lily alkaloids reported, linking the poison to Boophone disticha.
- The tools derive from a layer dated to about 60,000 years ago, exceeding the previous ~4,000-year-old direct evidence from ancient Egypt.
- The team argues that selecting, preparing, dosing, and applying these toxins reflects foresight, abstraction, causal reasoning, and organized hunting.
- Boophone disticha is still used locally as arrow poison and medicine, and the toxins’ stability allowed detection after tens of thousands of years.