Cutting Edge Hunting Methods of the Prehistoric Age

Welcome to Gimhae National Museum. The first relics you will see are hunting tools from the Prehistoric Age. Because human culture changed along with the pace of tool development, tools had a significant effect on civilization. Among them, the development of hunting tools was a decisive factor in the survival of mankind and the development of civilizations.

You can see here the progression of hunting technology throughout the Prehistoric Age. Let’s start from the exhibits on the right. These are primitive tools such as stones for chopping and pointed stones. On the left are arrowheads and they were advanced weapons of the Neolithic Age.

People of the Paleolithic Age initially hunted animals using simple wooden and stone tools. They then began to make spears, which made hunting safer. Tool development accelerated around about 10,000 B.C., following the end of the Ice Age.

Mammals such as mammoth and reindeer were well adapted to cold climates and moved to the north, while smaller animals such as foxes and rabbits thrived. The proliferation of these small, fast animals prompted the development of long range weapons such as bows and arrows.

Now let’s look at the piece of earthenware in the glass case behind you. The Neolithic artwork is inscribed with a boar motif and expresses a desire for successful boar hunting expeditions.

Since the agricultural practices of the time were primitive at best, food supply primarily depended on the success of a hunt. Neolithic drawings of animals in caves or motifs on pottery expressed a desire for successful hunting. Murals discovered in Lascaux in France and Altamira in Spain were motivated by the same desires.