'Ancient' Terminal Ballistic testing
I ran across this little video and I know it does not really belong here (no firearms), but on the other hand it does (terminal ballistic testing). I has most of the ingredients that we look at with respect to the effects of slinging lead or copper, just this time it's with stone and wood.
It made me think of this sub-forum and thought I would share it. Just a little informational tidbit of the hunters and warriors that roamed these lands in 'ancient' times. Not all that long ago actually.
In ancient times hunters often tipped their arrows with very small stone points. Oddly these points are found all across North America and similar stone blades (called microliths) were used in Europe. Because of their small size collectors here in America theorized that they were used for hunting birds, earning these tiny points the nickname "bird points". But recent studies have proved that these tiny points were actually used for hunting big game. Always a skeptic, I often wondered how a tiny stone point could penetrate deep enough to be effective on large game. So I set up a test in which I shot a freshly killed deer with lightweight reed arrows tipped with tiny stone bird points that I chipped out of flint. Did the ancient people who used these weapons have enough punch to bring down a deer?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsqrlaIef2o