World’s oldest arrowheads found in Uzbek grotto
Tiny stone points discovered in the mountainside grotto near Tashkent may be the world’s oldest arrowheads
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan (MNTV) — Tiny stone points discovered in a mountainside grotto near Tashkent may be the world’s oldest arrowheads — and could reshape understanding of early human migration into Central Asia, according to research highlighted by Eurasianet.
Archaeologist Andrei Krivoshapkin and his team spent more than a decade excavating the Obi-Rakhmat grotto, uncovering hundreds of small, finely crafted points in soil layers dating up to 80,000 years old. Initially dismissed as curiosities, the artifacts were reexamined after a 2023 French study identified 54,000-year-old arrowheads in Europe with striking similarities.
The Uzbek points — about two centimeters long and weighing only a few grams — are too small to be lethal unless propelled at high velocity. When researchers created replicas and fired them into animal carcasses using bows, the resulting fractures matched those on the ancient pieces, strongly suggesting their use as arrowheads.
“It was how I imagined archaeology would be when I was a kid,” said lead author Hugues Plisson of the University of Bordeaux. “We came upon a treasure.”
If confirmed, the findings would predate all known bow-and-arrow technology outside Africa and indicate that Homo sapiens may have reached Central Asia far earlier than the commonly accepted estimate of 45,000 years ago.
The grotto, located in the Tien Shan foothills, offered water, game and high-quality stone — ideal conditions for a seasonal hunting camp over roughly 40,000 years. The site also contains tools typically associated with Homo sapiens, though the story remains complex: a child’s remains discovered in 2003 showed mixed features, part Neanderthal and part ambiguous. Failed DNA extraction has left open the possibility that the arrowheads were used by Homo sapiens, Neanderthals, or groups that interacted.
“No arrowheads have been found at confirmed Neanderthal sites,” Plisson noted, though researchers caution that technological borrowing remains possible.
Outside experts say the evidence is compelling but requires more data. “The sample size is small,” said Stony Brook University archaeologist John Shea. “Additional finds of the same age from the region would strengthen the hypothesis.”
The discovery aligns with a surge of new archaeological research across Central Asia, revealing the region as a crossroads of early human movement. Projects in the Ferghana Valley, the Kyzyl-Kum Desert and the Tien Shan mountains suggest ancient migrations were far more complex than a single linear route out of Africa.
“Central Asia was a crossroads,” said Bakhtiyor Sayfullaev of the Samarkand Institute of Archaeology. “There were many meeting points and encounters here.”
For Krivoshapkin, who first discovered the points more than 20 years ago, the implications remain exciting and unresolved. “We’re showing that their level of technological knowledge was actually very high,” he said. “They were constantly inventing something.”
Researchers hope future excavations — particularly in the Middle East — will help clarify which ancient people crafted the arrows that may rewrite part of human history.
Have Your Say!
Have you been affected by the issues raised in this story? Please share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@soundvision.com.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a Muslim Network TV’s representative. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
Tweet: @MuslimNetworkTV
We must take charge of our narrative. Research indicates that 92% of their Muslim coverage is negative. Help us change that.
