Archaeologists Uncover a ‘Monumental’ Hunting Kit in Texas That May Be the Oldest Found in North America Yet

Near present-day Marfa, Texas, a prehistoric hunter once took shelter in a cave. The person built a fire and went through their hunting tools, leaving behind the ones that had broken. Then, they left. Those tools stayed in that cave, largely undisturbed, for 6,500 years, until researchers recently dug them up.

Archaeologists have pieced together this likely scene based on weapons, preserved human waste and the remains of a small fire discovered over the past several years in a West Texas cave. As they dug deeper and deeper, they uncovered more artifacts: a folded animal hide, wooden darts with stone tips, a boomerang, pieces of a spear-throwing tool and wooden shafts thought to be used for delivering poison. The tool kit may be the oldest intact weapon system found in North America, writes Louie Bond for Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine, which first reported the story.