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Humans have been manufacturing weapons since before recorded history. The oldest evidence of weaponry comes from Schöningen, Germany, in the form of four wooden spears dated to c. 400,000 BCE. Stone tips for spears have been found all over the world, the oldest to date in South Africa, dated to c. 64,000 BCE.
The earliest weapons are thought to have been stone-tipped spears, wooden clubs, stone axes, and stone knives used for hunting and defense before the development of the bow and arrow. Later, weapons were made of bronze and iron, allowing for the creation of the sword as it is known today. Weapons became increasingly sophisticated with more emphasis laid on developing those with greater range and force, eventually leading to the creation of the handgun. The oldest firearm found to date is the Heilongjiang Hand Cannon in China, dated to c. 1288.
The following gallery presents images of weapons from around the world from a prehistoric spear-thrower to a 15th-century shield. Images of people using the weapons are also included, though sparingly, as the focus is on the pieces themselves.
Spear thrower made out of bone and decorated with a carving of a horse's head. It belongs to the western European Magdalenian culture (c. 17,000 - c. 10,000 years ago) of the Late- or Upper Palaeolithic industry (c. 50,000/40,000 c. 10,000 years ago). The hook that the arrow would have been fitted on is clearly visible.
Based on Wikipedia content that has been reviewed, edited, and republished.
Original image by Wellcome Images. Uploaded by Emma Groeneveld, published on 19 December 2016. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution. This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.
