Our Sea

Part 1 - Weapons

Author's note. This book is one of a series originally published as Who the Hell are We? but extensively revised and updated.

Thank you for reading, voting, following and adding, 'Our Sea' to your reading list or library.

Dunc MacPhun. 2022 arch 24 

 In chronological order, the series contains:-

https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/234080674-supernovae-and-life

https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/238813918-we-eukaryotes

https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/244084318-neolithic

https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/247058691-our-sea

https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/249120741-migration

https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/251168052-middle-era

https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/254532133-disease

https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/256201647-atoms-light

https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/257785133-steam

I will be publishing more work in this series.

PROLOGUE

That's what the Romans called it . . . "Mare Nostrum" . . . Our Sea . . . the Mediterranean.  

Our remote ancestors had no fangs or claws and could be easily torn apart by lions or even an adult chimpanzee so they needed weapons to survive. They also needed ways to kill small animals without risking injury in the process.

The earliest weapon was probably a piece of rock, or a club shaped from a heavy root, or a long stick with a sharp point. Hominids may have been using weapons five million years ago but the oldest weapons found are wooden throwing spears dating from 300,000 years ago.

A wooden spear point could be hardened by burning the end in a fire and scraping away the charcoal. Sharp cutting edges were discovered by smashing rocks together to  make hand axes. Then somebody tied a stone to a club and invented hammers and axes.

Conflict with neighbours was a constant problem. Someone was always willing to kill, or kidnap people for slavery, or to steal food or land. And so the arms race began. Hunting spears could penetrate deeper if they had a sharp pointed rock at the end. Spear throwers (atlatls and woomeras) provided a missile speed of more than 150 km/h (93 mph) considerably increasing the range and penetrating power. (Kinetic energy is proportional to the velocity squared so the same missile with twice the velocity has four times as much energy).

A sling was a simple device used by shepherds to kill, or drive off, wolves. With it, they could propel a stone much farther than could be thrown by hand and with considerably greater velocity. It consisted of a length of rope with a pouch in the middle to hold the stone. The two ends were held in one hand and the stone swung in a circle until one end of the sling was released thereby releasing the stone at considerable velocity.

Ancient armies employed specialist slingers and even regular soldiers were equipped with slings that could lob a lethal, lead sling-bullet more than 400 metres (1,300 ft), a range surpassed only by a powerful composite bow. And if they ran out of lead bullets, stones were often readily available.

Meanwhile, bronze and steel, for spear and arrow heads, axes, swords, knives, shields and armour, gradually replace wood, leather and stone.

Archery was developed at least 60 000 years ago and replaced the spear thrower everywhere except in Australia.  Archery required considerable skill, and archers trained, often from childhood, to develop muscles and master accurate shooting. Medieval archers developed arm and shoulder muscles capable of pulling up to 150 pound (70 kg) whereas modern archers rarely pull more than 100 pound).