6,000-year-old throwing dart shines light on ancient Yukon First Nations tool making techniques

Monday, 14 June 2021 14:26

By Dylan MacNeil

Close up of the dart. (sciencedirect.com)

Turns out tools were made with a little help from beavers.

A two-metre-long 6,000-year-old throwing dart that was discovered melting free from alpine ice in the Traditional Territories of the Carcross/Tagish First Nation and the Kwanlin Dün First Nation in the fall, of 2018 is today shining light on old tool making techniques.

A study by the Canadian Conservation Institute has found that beaver castoreum, a secretion that beavers use to mark their territory, was used to make the dart. It’s unclear what the castoreum was used for, though it could have been a preservative, an adhesive or to colour the projectile.

The research started when Yukon Museums Conservator and study co-author Valery Monahan, found an unusual orange residue where different parts of the artifact were bound together. Analysis found that it was castoreum.

Throwing darts were the preferred hunting projectile of Yukon First Nations people before the 7th century AD. They were later replaced by bows and arrows around the year 847 AD.

Leaders of the study will give a presentation on June 17 at 11 a.m. that will be livestreamed to the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre Facebook page.

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