科學家在6萬年前的箭矢上發現最古老的毒藥

Recently the New York Times reported the following:

Scientists Discover Oldest Poison, on 60,000-Year-Old Arrows

Residues on arrow tips found in South Africa hint at how far back in history humans have been using poison for survival.

Trilobites - By Becky Ferreira

Jan. 7, 2026

Today it seems obvious: Dip a sharp object in a poisonous substance, and then use that weapon to take down your prey. But when did human beings figure out this deadly strategy?

It remains as mysterious as the dawn of setting fires, building wheels and painting on caves. But a new study pushes back the timeline of this innovative hunting technique by tens of thousands of years.

Researchers led by Sven Isaksson, a professor of archaeological science at Stockholm University, have discovered poison residues on 60,000-year-old arrow tips unearthed in South Africa. With the next-oldest trace of poison use dated to 35,000 years ago, these tips preserve the earliest evidence of poisoned weapons by a wide margin.

“It’s a big leap,” Dr. Isaksson said of the discovery, which was published on Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.

“It might be an even earlier practice,” he added. “This is just the earliest evidence so far.”

The finding reinforces existing evidence that early Homo sapiens had cognitive abilities nearing the sophistication of our own. That’s because in order to tip an arrow with poison, hunters needed knowledge of local plants and their effects, as well as the ability to craft special weapons with the right dosages.

“It takes a developed working memory to be able to predict that if I put this arrowhead into that plant, it will shorten the delay before I get my hands on this meat,” Dr. Isaksson said.

Dr. Isaksson and colleagues examined specimens that were originally discovered in 1985 at the Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter in eastern South Africa. The shelter contains layers of archaeological remains that were left tens of thousands of years ago. The researchers were inspired to look more closely at a handful of quartz arrow tips lodged in sediments estimated to be 60,000 years old.

The arrow points are unusually small, which suggests that they might have been crafted to deliver poison efficiently into an impact wound, as opposed to inflicting a blunt-force injury.

The team performed chemical and molecular analyses of the artifacts. That revealed two toxic compounds, buphanidrine and epibuphanisine, that were most likely collected from Boophone disticha, a plant known as the Bushman’s poison bulb. It remains a frequent source of poison used by traditional hunters in the region, such as the San and Khoe peoples, to this day, helping them slow their prey rather than kill it with a knockout blow.

Felix Riede, a professor of archaeology at Aarhus University in Denmark, called the discovery a “spectacular finding” that appears to be “the earliest evidence of poison use globally so far.”

He added that the paper was a demonstration “that it is possible to extract poison signatures from even very ancient residues on stone tools.” Similar compounds should be sought elsewhere, he said.

Michelle C. Langley, an associate professor of archaeology at the Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution at Griffith University, likewise pointed to the possibility that new clues about this ancient tradition may be hidden at other fossil sites or in collections.

“It is always worth going back and taking another look,” Dr. Langley said. “Especially as our techniques get better and cheaper and faster, people can at least look for things in the tiny little crevices and cracks where maybe something has been kept all those years.”

She also noted that the identification of these poison-tipped weapons added to a growing body of evidence that our human ancestors 60,000 years ago — and even earlier — were cognitively on par with modern humans.

“I’m not surprised that they found this,” Dr. Langley said. “It’s just building on everything that’s come before it, and really substantiating that the people 60,000 years ago were as complex as we are today.”

Translation

科學家在6萬年前的箭矢上發現最古老的毒藥

在南非發現的箭尖上的毒藥殘留物揭示了人類使用毒藥求生的歷史可以追溯到多麼久遠的年代。

如今看來，這似乎是顯浅：將尖銳的物體浸入毒液中，然後用這件武器獵殺獵物。但人類究竟在何時掌握了這種致命的策略呢？

它至今仍像人類發明火、製造車輪和在洞穴中作畫一樣神秘。但一項新的研究將這種創新狩獵技術的歷史向前推前了數萬年。

由斯德哥爾摩大學考古學教授領導的研究團隊在南非出土的6萬年前的箭尖上發現了毒藥殘留物。繼35,000年前發現的第二古老的毒藥使用痕跡之後，這些箭尖保存了迄今為止發現的最早的毒藥武器證據，時間上大幅度先於第二古老的。

Isaksson博士在談到這項週三發表在《科學進展》（Science Advances）雜誌上的發現時說道: 「這是一項重大突破」。

他補充道:“這或許是一種更早的狩獵技術實踐”，“這只是目前為止發現的最早證據。”

這項發現進一步證實了早期智人的認知能力已接近我們現代人的水平。這是因為，為了在箭尖上塗毒，獵人需要了解當地植物及其作用，以及製作含有正確劑量毒藥的特殊武器的能力。

Isaksson博士說: 「需要一個成熟的工作記憶才能預測到，如果我把這個箭頭放進那株植物裡，它會縮短我拿到這塊肉的等待時間」。

Isaksson博士及其同事研究了原先於1985年在南非東部Umhlatuzana岩棚發現的標本。該岩棚包含數萬年前遺留下來的多層考古遺跡。研究人員受到啟發，開始仔細研究幾枚嵌在估計有6萬年歷史的沉積物中的石英箭頭。

這些箭頭異常小巧，這表明它們可能是為了有效地將毒液注入受擊中的傷口而設計，而不是為了施加鈍性傷害。

研究團隊對這些文物進行了化學和分子分析。分析結果顯示，其中含有兩種有毒化合物：布芬尼鹼和表布芬尼鹼，它們很可能是從一種名為“刺眼花”（Boophone disticha）的植物中提取的，這種植物也被稱為“布什曼人的毒球莖”。時至今日，這種毒藥仍然是該地區傳統獵人（例如San人和Khoe人）常用的毒藥來源，它幫助減緩獵物的速度，而不是一擊斃命。

丹麥奧胡斯大學考古學教授Felix Riede稱這一發現為“驚人的發現”，並認為這是“迄今為止全球範圍內最早的毒藥使用證據”。

他補充說，這篇論文證明「即使是非常古老的石器殘留物，也有可能提取出毒藥的痕跡」。他表示，應該在其他地方尋找類似的化合物。

格里菲斯大學澳洲人類演化研究中心考古學副教授Michelle C. Langley也指出，關於這項古老傳統的線索可能隱藏在其他化石遺址或收藏品中。

Langley博士說: 「回頭再仔細研究一次總是值得」; 「尤其隨著技術越來越先進、成本越來越低、速度越來越快，人們至少可以去那些細小的縫隙和裂縫裡尋找東西，說不定有些東西就藏在那裡好多年了」。

她也指出，這些毒刺武器的發現，加大了在增加中的證據，顯示我們人類祖先在6萬年前 - 甚至更早 - 的認知能力就與現代人不相上下。

Langley博士說: “我對他們的發現並不感到驚訝” ， “這只是建立在之前所有研究成果的基礎上，真正證實了6萬年前的人類和我們今天的人類一樣複雜。”

              So, researchers have discovered poison residues on 60,000-year-old arrow tips unearthed in South Africa. With the next-oldest trace of poison use dated to 35,000 years ago, these tips preserve the earliest evidence of poisoned weapons by a wide margin. Apparently, these poison-tipped weapons add to a growing body of evidence that our human ancestors 60,000 years ago were as clever as we are.

Note:

1. Buphanidrine and epibuphanisine (布芬尼鹼和表布芬尼鹼) are Amaryllidaceae alkaloids, a class of naturally occurring compounds found mainly in plants of the genus Buphane (family Amaryllidaceae), which are native to southern Africa. Buphane plants are poisonous; alkaloids like buphanidrine contribute to their toxicity. (ChatGPT)