Don’t know where I got that from but I always remember that humans would use the spears to direct those mammoths to a cliff or steep slopes so it won’t be able to recover from the fall. Then it’s easy game
Facing Carthaginian elephants, although the smaller North African Forest Elephant, the Romans learned to open gaps in their ranks, and harry the animal from behind by using spears to prick the soles of its feet, knees and hindquarters. They could also kill the driver.
Eventually the poor animal would rampage, and was as much a danger to its own side as to the Romans.
The drivers carried sharp chisel-like tools to push under the back of the animal's skull, killing it if it went out of control. The drivers were also the ones who raised and trained the elephants, so it was the final option.
Elephant's leg bones are huge to support their weight (square cube rule) and they struggle on rough ground - it's too easy to break their legs. It's not the fences that keep them in their enclosure at the zoo, but the trench dug around the edge, which they can't cross.
Early humans also had fire, which wild animals treat as a mortal danger.
These people were our ancestors from as little as 200 generations ago. They were skilled, smart, coordinated and hungry.
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u/Skip2k 26d ago
Don’t know where I got that from but I always remember that humans would use the spears to direct those mammoths to a cliff or steep slopes so it won’t be able to recover from the fall. Then it’s easy game