80,000-Year-Old Arrowheads Unearthed in Uzbekistan Could Be the World’s Earliest!
Archaeologists working in north-eastern Uzbekistan have made a remarkable discovery at the Obi-Rakhmat rock shelter: tiny triangular stone tools, known as “micropoints,” which could be the earliest arrowheads ever found. Dating back around 80,000 years, these small points were likely used as tips for arrows, according to a study published in PLOS One. If confirmed, this would push back the known history of bow-and-arrow technology by about 6,000 years, beyond the previously oldest examples from Ethiopia, which are roughly 74,000 years old.
Initially, these points were largely overlooked because most were broken. Recent analysis, however, has revealed that their narrow design makes them unsuitable for knives or spears, but ideal for attachment to slender shafts. The patterns of breakage suggest high-velocity impact, consistent with use as arrowheads.
Photo Credit: H. Plisson et al., PLOS ONE (2025)
The discovery also raises intriguing questions about who made these tools. Neanderthals inhabited Central Asia at this time, but no confirmed Neanderthal arrowheads have been found elsewhere. Similar points have appeared in later Homo sapiens contexts, leading some scientists to suggest early modern humans may have crafted them. That said, a Neanderthal origin cannot be ruled out entirely.
Adding to the mystery, the site previously yielded the skull and teeth fragments of a child, displaying a mix of Neanderthal and modern human traits. This has led to speculation that the region may have been home to hybrid populations, or at the very least, served as a meeting point between different human groups.
Photo Credit: H. Plisson et al., PLOS ONE (2025)
The design of the micropoints themselves offers further insights. They were constructed to pierce prey, allowing the shaft to penetrate, rather than to withstand heavy impact. This method of hunting would later become characteristic of modern humans. Similar styles of arrowheads were discovered in France at Grotte Mandrin, where early Homo sapiens used bows to hunt around 54,000 years ago.
These Uzbek finds shed new light on the movement of human populations across Eurasia. The region lies along migration routes from Africa and may have been a crossroads for interactions between Neanderthals, modern humans, and possibly Denisovans, enabling both cultural and genetic exchanges.
The researchers involved in the study emphasise that more work is needed. They plan to investigate older Central Asian sites and examine potential links with early modern human communities in the Levant. The strongest evidence for arrow use would come from arrows found embedded in prey at hunting sites, a discovery that has so far eluded archaeologists.
For now, the 80,000-year-old tools from Obi-Rakhmat suggest that the origins of projectile technology, and the humans behind it, are far older and more complex than previously realised.