New research in 2025 has revised the estimated age of the Schöningen spears, a collection of prehistoric wooden hunting weapons discovered in Lower Saxony, Germany. Originally thought to be between 300,000 and 400,000 years old, the spears are now dated to approximately 200,000 years ago. This redating places them firmly within the Middle Paleolithic period, challenging previous assumptions about their creators.
The revised dating suggests the spears were likely crafted and used by Neanderthals, not Homo heidelbergensis as initially believed. This conclusion is based on amino acid geochronology, a sophisticated method refined by Professor Kirsty Penkman from the University of York, which analyzes the ratio of L to D amino acids in fossilized freshwater snail shells found in the same sediment layer as the spears.
The Schöningen spears, found alongside butchered remains of approximately 50 wild horses, represent the earliest evidence of advanced hunting technology. This indicates that Neanderthals possessed a high degree of social organization, strategic planning, and communication skills. The findings contribute to a growing body of evidence that challenges older views of Neanderthals as cognitively inferior to Homo sapiens, highlighting their complex hunting strategies and cooperative behaviors.