[HN Gopher] Scientists discover oldest poison, on 60k-year-old a...
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Scientists discover oldest poison, on 60k-year-old arrows
https://archive.ph/qGfbk
Author : noleary
Score : 77 points
Date : 2026-01-08 23:24 UTC (23 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.nytimes.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.nytimes.com)
| gilleain wrote:
| The poisions?
|
| Buphanidrine :
| https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Buphanidrine
|
| and
|
| Epibuphanisine
| https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/substance/349793761
|
| which are nearly identical compounds (it seems) except for one
| having an additional -OMe (Methylether) group. Looks like they
| are https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crinine (s)
|
| From the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boophone_disticha plant.
| CGMthrowaway wrote:
| > having an effect akin to that of scopolamine
|
| The motion sickness patch? Gives "just shoot me" a new meaning
| in 6,000 BC
| ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
| _> 6,000 BC_
|
| 58,000 BC
| adolph wrote:
| For context, this is towards the end of prehistoric human time
| period Middle Paleolithic [0] and in the middle of geological
| time period Late Pleistocene [1].
|
| 0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Paleolithic
|
| 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Pleistocene
| WillAdams wrote:
| How was it determined that these are arrowheads, as opposed to
| atlatl darts?
|
| The oldest known/discovered/documented bows only go back to
| ~7,000 BC (Holmegaard bows from Northern Europe).
| chrneu wrote:
| Can't directly answer your questions, but generally each
| region/time period has their own style of arrowheads, so my
| assumption here would be that this region tends to create
| arrowheads in this style. The paper mentions this is a pretty
| old site/artifacts, so I'd wager they found other "arrowheads".
|
| Arrowhead might also be being used generically here to mean
| sharpened stone tip on a projectile or thrown weapon.
|
| I'm no expert in this area, but it may just be that we aren't
| sure if these are arrowheads or just sharpened stones that were
| put on something. Someone correct me if I'm being ignorant. The
| article really makes it seem like a lot is unknown here, since
| we're dealing with 60,000 years.
| Twiin wrote:
| There are a number of ways they're able to tell the
| difference between arrowheads and sharpened stones put on a
| stick, including high-resolution CT to look at the stress
| microcracks of the arrowhead. Bow-fired arrows and thrown
| spearheads have different launch stress profiles as well as
| impact profiles. There are a lot of overlapping types of
| analysis that happen to establish what technology did or did
| not exist in a given area at a given time.
| icyfox wrote:
| At the risk of being overly pedantic, topologists would typically
| classify this as venom.
|
| Venom is inert if digested; it's only a problem if it gets in
| your blood stream. So arrows that were laced with venom and
| thereby contaminated meat were actually perfectly safe to eat.
|
| Poison is different. If ingested, inhaled, or absorbed it will
| kill you.
| VanshPatel99 wrote:
| TIL. I always thought that "If it bite you -> you die = venom"
| and "If you eat, bite, touch -> you die = poison". But your
| differentiation makes more sense
| hyrix wrote:
| These chemicals are derived from plants where even pedants
| would classify them as poisons.
|
| The genus name Boophone is from the Greek bous = ox, and
| phontes= killer of, a clear warning that eating the plant can
| be fatal to livestock.
| icyfox wrote:
| Fair point about the source, but the classification usually
| follows the mode of delivery, not the organism of origin.
|
| Many plant-derived compounds function as venoms once
| deliberately introduced into the bloodstream (arrow coatings,
| darts, etc.), even if they're also toxic when ingested.
| Curare is the one example here: plant-based, lethal in blood,
| but largely harmless if eaten.
|
| So while Boophone is absolutely a poison in the ecological
| sense, using it on arrows still fits the venom/toxin
| distinction better than a purely ingested poison. Otherwise
| how would people hunt with this if they would get sick the
| second they ate the meat?
| ojo-rojo wrote:
| It's humbling to think about all the things people have gone
| through over the past couple hundred thousand years. Somewhere
| around 117 billion humans have ever lived...? It makes it seem
| kind of small when we think only 50 or 100 years out when
| thinking of what the future would be.
| shevy-java wrote:
| Man has a rather unkind history.
|
| The even worse thing is that in 2026 this hasn't quite improved
| significantly. What is the main poison used today? I guess that
| may depend on the definition, probably particles being taken in
| by the lung in general. But specific poison it may be antifreeze?
| Or perhaps that is just more famous. Food poisoning probably is
| among the highest, but it would not be deliberate usually, so it
| should be counted in another category.
| jayzalowitz wrote:
| the main poison used today is dopamine.
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