Dr Oshan Wedage of the Max Planck Institute said: “Fa-Hien Lena has emerged as one of South Asia’s most important archaeological sites since the 1980s, preserving remains of our species, their tools, and their prey in a tropical context.”
According to the new study, the preserved bone arrowheads were likely used to hunt down difficult-to-catch rainforest prey such as small monkeys and squirrels.
Other tools found in the Sri Lankan cave may have also been used to make nets and clothing.
Until recently, Late Pleistocene era discoveries made in Europe have placed the continent at the forefront of human development.
Discoveries of bow and arrow technology in Africa have also painted Africa’s grasslands and marine environments as drivers behind early hunting practices.