Schöningen Spears, Ancient hunting weapons in Schöningen, Germany.

The Schöningen Spears are ten Palaeolithic wooden weapons excavated from the Spear Horizon in the open-cast lignite mine at Schöningen, Helmstedt district. Nine are throwing spears and one is a thrusting lance 2.53 m long; the complete spears measure 1.84 to 2.53 m, with diameters of 29 to 47 mm. Most were cut from slow-growing spruce, Spear IV from pine, and all are slightly deformed by sediment pressure.

Excavations led by Hartmut Thieme of the Lower Saxony State Service for Cultural Heritage recovered the spears between 1994 and 1999 from the Spear Horizon in the Schöningen lignite mine. Thermoluminescence dating of heated flints below the find layer gives an age of 337,000 to 300,000 years, placing them in MIS 9; a 2025 study proposing about 200,000 years is contested. They are the oldest complete wooden weapons known.

The name comes from the nearby town of Schöningen, where visitors today can view the weapons at the research museum. The exhibition shows how early humans worked the wood and what hunting techniques they used.

The Forschungsmuseum Schöningen is located a few kilometers from the original site and displays the originals in climate-controlled cases. Visitors also gain insight into the scientific methods used to study the finds.

Researchers found more than 10,000 wild horse bones at the site, indicating intense hunting activities. The concentration of these remains makes the location one of the most important prehistoric hunting camps in Europe.