Tanged Points

Do you see the stone point at the end of the long spear? This is what is called a stemmed point. The stemmed point is the long, pointed spike of the stone that is inserted into the shaft of a spear. When stones were chipped, Paleolithic people oriented the stone so that the sharpest part formed the point of the spear and the stemmed point attached the stone to the shaft. They ranged in size from the length of a finger to over 10 centimeters.

Spears were useful for both short- and long-distance hunting. They ensured a safe distance between beast and hunter and, moreover, a well-thrown spear had great speed and accuracy.

The stemmed point was common in both Korea and Japan, indicating the possibility of early cultural exchange between the two countries.