The importance of the Kathu Pan site was highlighted in the November 16, 2012 issue of the journal "Science" in which Jayne Wilkins and colleagues reveal evidence of 500 000 year-old stone points (excavated by Peter Beaumont in 1979-1982), argued to be the earliest stone-tipped spears yet found. This conclusion, based partly on study of use wear, is taken to indicate that human ancestors used stone-tipped weapons for hunting 200 000 years earlier than previously thought. Wilkins is quoted as saying that the find does more than simply extend the prehistory of stone-tipped spears – it puts those first spears firmly in the hands of "Homo heidelbergensis". "Modern foragers use such tools to take down large game as part of cooperative, strategic hunts. Perhaps our ancestor did so too."