Thirty Years of Experimental Research on the Breakage Patterns of Stone Age Osseous Points. Overview, Methodological Problems and Current Perspectives

Numerous projectile experiments focusing on the replication and use of Stone Age spearheads and arrowheads made of bone or antler have been undertaken since the early 1980s. A survey of this literature is presented here, focusing on aspects of point resistance and breakage patterns, in order to provide a synthetic view of the experimentally-attested macroscopic use-wear traces on this type of implements. Emerging from this general overview, a consistent discrepancy in the extent of fracture damage between the experimental results and the archeological record is pointed out. A first explanation for this situation is suggested, based on recent experimental results. Finally, several directions for further research on this topic are proposed.