1st Americans impaled and killed mammoths with pikes, not spears, study suggests

Researchers who thought ancient hunters threw spears to kill mammoths and mastodons may have got the wrong end of the stick, archaeologists say. Instead of hurling weapons at prehistoric beasts, hunters likely used their weapons like pikes, impaling the beasts as they charged, a new study suggests.

Pikes propped up at an angle would have iNFLicted much deeper wounds on charging Animals than flying spears, even if the spears were thrown by the strongest prehistoric hunters, according to the study. Evidence suggests hunters designed the pikes to split in two upon impact with bone, widening the internal wound and causing deadly injuries.

"This ancient Native American design was an amazing innovation in hunting strategies," lead study author Scott Byram, a research associate with the University of California Berkeley's Archaeological Research Facility, said in a statement. Not only could the weapon kill huge Animals swiftly, it also protected the hunter who stood behind it, Byram and his colleagues said in the statement.

The new study, which was published Aug. 21 in the journal PLOS One, builds on decades of research into ancient weapon tips known as Clovis points. Clovis points, which date to around 13,000 years ago, get their name from a small town in New Mexico where they were first discovered nearly a century ago during archaeological excavations.

Since then, archaeologists have found thousands of these flattened stone points across North America. They are carved from rocks including chert, flint and jasper, with scalloped edges that could easily pierce the hide and skin of Animals. But the most distinctive features of Clovis points are fluted indentations at the base on either side that act as shock absorbers.

Related: The 1st Americans were not who we thought they were

Archaeologists disagree about how early Americans used Clovis points. While some researchers are confident that hunters mounted the points on wooden shafts to make weapons, others argue that they were too broad to penetrate deep and inflict serious wounds in large animals. Instead, these experts argue, ancient communities used Clovis points like knives to cut meat off scavenged animal carcasses.