Acta Anthropologica Sinica ›› 2012, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (03): 228-237.

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On the use of the asymmetric arrowhead: if humans had understood the idea of light refraction in prehistory

WANG Peng   

  • Online:2012-09-15 Published:2012-09-15

Abstract: This paper describes many asymmetric arrowheads from a number of ancient sites, and puts forward a hypothesis that the asymmetric arrowhead was used for shooting fish, which is based on the fact that many asymmetric arrowheads coexist with other fishing tools at the same sites. Experimental results show that the flight path of the asymmetric arrowhead is lower than the symmetrical arrowhead, which suggests that the asymmetric arrowhead was possibly used for shooting fish, and thus human understood the concept of light refraction in prehistory.

Key words: Asymmetric arrowhead; Use; Experiment; Light refraction