Pleistocene early weaponry technologies: a multifaceted mosaic of new evidence and behaviours

Abstract

Direct and indirect evidence of weaponry in the Pleistocene archaeological record provides a framework for evaluating numerous facets of human evolution, including hominin subsistence behaviours, hunting strategies, cooperative group behaviours, cognitive flexibility, technological complexity, innovation, use of landscape, and the ability to adapt to different ecological niches. In the last few decades in particular, our ability to identify and evaluate the use of hunting weapons during the Middle and Late Pleistocene has been improved through remarkable archaeological discoveries and advances in methodological approaches. This has reshaped the dialogue around perceptions of performance differences between weapon technologies and hunting strategies of different species of *Homo*. Therefore, this session invites abstracts from researchers currently looking at the diversity of evidence on Middle and early Late Pleistocene use of early weapons (with a specific focus on hand-delivered weapon technologies) for hunting and/or confrontational events, including evidence of early weapons or hunting lesions, experimental archaeology, biomechanical approaches, use-wear methodologies, social perspectives (e.g. gender, age, learning, cooperation), ethnoarchaeology, indigenous perspectives, and zooarchaeological studies that provide evidence for hunting. We also invite contributions that aim to contextualise both existing evidence and/or newer research within the developing comparative models of weaponry and hunting strategies utilised by different species of *Homo*.