Skip to content
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Menu
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Happy News

Oldest Known Arrow Poison Reveals Surprises

Scientists identified traces of poison from the South African plant gifbol on Stone Age arrowheads dating back 60,000 years, making it the oldest known arrow poison discovered anywhere in the world. This also shows that and showing that people in southern Africa had already developed advanced knowledge of toxic substances long before anyone had anticipated. Researchers from South Africa and Sweden made the discovery on 60,000 year old quartz arrowheads from Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter in KwaZulu-Natal, identifying chemical residues of poison from gifbol, a poisonous plant still used by traditional hunters in the region today. Professor Marlize Lombard of the Palaeo-Research Institute at the University of Johannesburg explained that the residue shows our ancestors in southern Africa not only invented the bow and arrow much earlier than previously thought, but also understood how to use nature’s chemistry to increase hunting efficiency. The gifbol plant, also known as the poisonous onion, is renowned among local hunters for its highly toxic properties but has no bright colors to clue anyone in, meaning the toxicity must have been established through trial and error or other careful observations.

Using arrow poison requires planning, patience, and an understanding of cause and effect, which Professor Anders Högberg of Linnaeus University says is a clear sign of advanced thinking in early humans who didn’t just hunt constantly hoping for the best. The discovery implies early hunters had both technical skills and advanced planning abilities, taking time to prepare their equipment to maximize their chances of success in ways that show we’re probably not giving our ancestors enough credit for their intelligence and innovation.

PrevPreviousThe Ultimate Shrek Proposal
NextHow An 80 Year Old Beat America’s Toughest TrailNext

Recent Articles

Happy News

The First Doomsday Trailer Is Everything Fans Dreamed Of

April 17, 2026

The wait is over. Marvel fans who have been counting the days since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame finally got what they came for when Disney unveiled the first full trailer for Avengers: Doomsday at CinemaCon in Las Vegas this week and it absolutely delivered. Robert Downey Jr. took the stage to

Read More
Happy News

A New Study Of 10,000 People Just Put The Fluoride Fear To Rest

April 17, 2026

A major new study has put one of the most widely circulated health fears of recent years to rest, finding that exposure to fluoride in drinking water during childhood has no effect on IQ or cognitive function at any point in life. Researchers from the University of Minnesota, the University

Read More
Happy News

Woman Injected Her Own Tumor With A Virus She Grew In Her Lab.

April 17, 2026

When Dr. Beata Halassy learned in 2020 that her breast cancer had returned for the third time, she faced a choice that almost no one else on earth could have made. A virologist at the University of Zagreb in Croatia, she had spent her career growing and studying viruses in

Read More
« Previous Next »
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2026 HappyNews.