400,000 year old spears found in an German coal mine!

reinep.wordpress.com ^ | 07-04-2010 | Staff

[Red Badger]

[Red Badger]

Ping!...........

[Larry Lucido]

“400,000 year old spears”

I knew Brtiny was aging badly, but I never guessed she was that old.

[MSF BU]

...did they find any spaetzl or beer?

[earlJam]

Only a Neanderthal could butcher a horse.

[Red Badger]

Or a hungry redneck...............

[Red Badger]

[sodpoodle]

Perhaps those huge, cumbersome spears were held by more than one hunter. They might have developed a system of running and hurling in unison. More strength, velocity and reach.

[Red Badger]

Beer was invented (as far as we know) in Egypt or Mesopotamia around 5000 BC, give or take a millenia or two. It wasn’t until 1400’s AD that Germany perfected it...............

[Red Badger]

[NonValueAdded]

Yeah, but what were they doing in a coal mine back then?

[Red Badger]

Starting Global Warming, trying to melt the mile thick ice sheet..............

[Hacklehead]

Those spears were most likely thrusting weapons and not thrown, especially since they are not straight and wouldn’t fly properly. It is also estimated that modern humans appeared about 50,000 years ago so its likely those spears were used by neanderthals.

[sodpoodle]

http://www.offthemark.com/prehistoric/prehistoric03.htm

LOL!!!!

[ketelone]

So, the Germans were trying to take over the World even 400000 years ago! Obviously the remains of an ancient military-industrial complex.

[Sherman Logan]

And “they must have been awfully strong, far stronger than I am. Those spears are longer than I am.”

What?

As spears go, this is shortish. Much shorter and you've got a dart, not a spear.

[Red Badger]

They were midget neanderthals?.................

[ClearCase_guy]

The Roman Legions made good use of the pilum, a throwing spear, that was five and a half feet long. That was just about the height of the average legionary.

If these spears from the coal mine are seven feet long, then I would not consider them to be "shortish".
Of course, the Macedonian phalanx used the sarissa, a thrusting spear, that was 16 feet long, but that's a whole 'nother thing.

[njslim]

Fell in what was a peat bog back then

Bog was compressed by sediments on top - over eons the peat
was turned in coal

Probably low grade lignite - first step on becoming coal

It is strip mined to burn in power plants

[muawiyah]

Horses weren't all that big ~ about zebra size in fact.

The modern horse is much larger than its ancestors thanks to controlled breeding by humans who liked big horses.

Even today killing and butchering a zebra is not without effort, although if you use a firearm it cuts out a lot of the preliminary stuff.