In the Obi-Rakhmat Grotto in Uzbekistan’s Tashkent Region, archaeologists have uncovered evidence that bows and arrows were used in Eurasia much earlier than previously thought. The findings, published in the scientific journal Plos One by an international team of researchers from France and Russia, were reported by the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Until recently, historians believed that the technology of distance hunting—using weapons to strike game from afar—emerged in Eurasia only during the Upper Paleolithic, around 40,000 years ago. However, new discoveries from Obi-Rakhmat challenge this view.
“The Obi-Rakhmat Grotto, a key Middle Paleolithic site in Central Asia, was a multilayered hunting camp. Its cultural deposits reach a thickness of 10 meters, covering a period from 40,000 to 80,000 years ago,” explained archaeologist Alyona Kharevich, a senior researcher at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
In the oldest layers, researchers found tiny triangular stone artifacts up to three centimeters long. Detailed analysis revealed their functional purpose, identifying wear patterns characteristic of projectile weapons.
“The shape of the artifacts and the presumed size of the shafts also suggest that these items were used as arrowheads,” said Lyudmila Zotkina, a leading researcher at the Institute.
This discovery is of fundamental importance. Until now, it was believed that outside Africa, humans began using bows and arrows around 54,000 years ago, based on findings from the Mandrin Cave in France. However, the arrowheads from Obi-Rakhmat are at least 20,000–30,000 years older. This means that ancient humans in the territory of Uzbekistan began hunting approximately 80,000 years ago.
The site also yielded intriguing anthropological material: remains of individuals with a “mosaic” set of traits, combining features of both Neanderthals and early anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens).
Thus, the discovery in the Uzbek grotto challenges previous assumptions about the development of hunting technologies and prompts a fresh look at the evolution of early humans in Central Asia.
/// nCa, 18 August 2025