Single-row Barbed Harpoon
Hunting and fishing weapon
Magdalenian
Between 21,000 and 14,000 years ago
Magdalenian groups invented and used harpoons during the final millenia of the Last Glaciation
D. Vialou, Au cœur de la préhistoire, Chasseurs et artistes. Découvertes Gallimard, Paris. 1996
Commentary :
Magdalenian groups invented different types of reindeer antler harpoons that were used for hunting as well as for fishing.
Three or four single-row barbed harpoons are bound and glued at the end of long shafts.
The multiple points of this composite weapon, which can be grouped together, allow large salmonids to be captured.
This technological innovation improves the productivity of fishing, a revolutionary subsistence practice for Palaeolithic societies.