page_title: History of weapons
hierarchical_section_title: History of weapons
caption_attribution_description: English: A Gilbertese (Gilbert Islands) shark tooth weapon (FMNH 99071) from the 19th Century Located at the Field Museum of Natural History (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0059855.g001)
context_page_description: People have used weapons in warfare, hunting, self-defense, law enforcement, and criminal activity. Weapons also serve many other purposes in society including use in sports, collections for display, and historical displays and demonstrations. As technology has developed throughout history, weapons have changed with it.
  Major innovations in the history of weapons have included the adoption of different materials – from stone and wood to different metals, and modern synthetic materials such as plastics – and the developments of different weapon styles either to fit the terrain or to support or counteract different battlefield tactics and defensive equipment.
context_section_description: People have used weapons in warfare, hunting, self-defense, law enforcement, and criminal activity. Weapons also serve many other purposes in society including use in sports, collections for display, and historical displays and demonstrations. As technology has developed throughout history, weapons have changed with it.
  Major innovations in the history of weapons have included the adoption of different materials – from stone and wood to different metals, and modern synthetic materials such as plastics – and the developments of different weapon styles either to fit the terrain or to support or counteract different battlefield tactics and defensive equipment.
caption: A Gilbertese shark tooth weapon (late 19th century)
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