Researchers at Texas A&M University excavate a site in central Texas.(Photo: Texas A&M University)

Ancient spear points discovered near Austin, Texas are believed to be the oldest weapons ever found in North America, a study published this week finds.

Researchers at Texas A&M discovered the spear points, estimated to be 15,500-years-old and roughly three- to four-inches-long, in central Texas, about 40 miles northwest of Austin.

Researchers said the spear points pre-date the Clovis, a group of people believed to be the first to enter the Americas.

Their findings were published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.

Michael Waters, a professor of anthropology and director of the Center for the Study of the First Americans at Texas A&M, said in a statement the spear points were used for hunting game in the region.

“The findings expand our understanding of the earliest people to explore and settle North America,” Waters said in a statement. “The peopling of the Americas during the end of the last Ice Age was a complex process and this complexity is seen in their genetic record. Now we are starting to see this complexity mirrored in the archaeological record.”

Last year, a study published in the journal Nature claimed ancient humans reached the New World much earlier than previously thought. Although most evidence points to the first humans entering the Americas about 15,000 years ago, the study said humans might have arrived here at least 130,000 years ago.

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.

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