The most dangerous game

I had always assumed that early man invented weapons to kill his fellow man, as in Richard Connell’s short story The most dangerous game. Now, modern archaeologists tend more towards the theory that man created weapons to hunt the game he was so reliant on – the theory being that, back in earliest times, there were so few humans wandering around that there was little need to fight one another. So, larger armed group meets smaller, similarly armed group; smaller group, anxious to avoid being slaughtered, backs off – much as most armies tried to do until relatively recent times. After all, there was enough space for everyone, even if there was competition for the snuggest cave, nearest the best water and closest, it follows, to the most meat on hoof, paw and wing.

Some historians wonder whether the first weapons were not so much used for hunting their prey as for trying, and often failing, to defend themselves from the huge, hungry beasties – sabre-toothed tigers, massive cave bears and the like – which doubtless. The skeleton of a colossal bear was discovered in a cave in Bohemia in the 19th century with a flint arrowhead still lodged in its dense skull. It was deep enough to infuriate but not deep enough to damage and there’s almost zero chance that the ancient archer who unleashed it survived the encounter.