Newsies screw up a story

A team of archeologists working in Ethiopia uncovered a really fine projectile point in an old site.  The point, pure jet black obsidian, would be a fine addition to anyone's collection of Indian arrowheads.  It's inch and a half to two inches long, and finely chipped, very symmetrical, and obviously made by hands.  Not one of those border line chipped pebble tools that look like plain pebbles to most people. 
   Website "I f***ing Love Science"  said this point, dated at 280,000 years ago, is older than humans, so it's existence proves humans are older than we think they are.  They didn't mention the dating method.
   National Geographic  talked about analysis of wear patterns on the edges of the point proved that it was a projectile point for a thrown spear, a javelin.  Geographic claimed wear patterns showed the point had struck its targets while doing 1900 miles per hour.  Whoa Nelly.  1900 miles per hour is Mach two, the speed of a rifle bullet.  Somehow I don't think Alley Oop could throw that hard.  
    Some clicking around the web found the original technical article in "Plos" an archeological webzine.  The dating comes from Argon-Argon measurements.  The site is underneath a layer of volcanic deposits, the Argon-Argon dating tells when the volcanic deposit cooled down, stopped being molten lava, and hardened into stone.  Anything underneath the deposit has got to be older.  Which sounds like a better dating than you get from stratigraphy (counting layers in the rock).  So the 280,000 year old dating is solid, assuming the lab did their work properly. 
   The speed of projectile issue speaks to the question of whether the point is a projectile point or just the point of a hand held spear.  We consider a culture with projectile weapons to be more advanced than one that has to close up and go hand-to-hand.  Certainly their chances of taking wary prey like deer is better with a projectile than with a club.  The 1900 miles per hour is the speed of micro crack propagation inside the obsidian point.  As the point cleaves into it's target, microcracks start at the edge and zip into the body of the point.  This has some relationship with the speed with which the point strikes its target.  The relationship was unclear. 
  As to the "point is older than humans" bit.  The point is older than modern man, homo sapiens, but  it isn't older than earlier human species, Home Habilis, Homo Afarenis,  Lucy, etc.  Early man goes back 2-3 million years at least. 
   The remarkable thing about this point, is that it is exceptionally fine, as nice a bit of work as anyone ever did, and it's pretty old.  It shows that early man, Homo something-or-other, 280,000 years ago was as good at point making (and presumable spear throwing) as anyone who came after him.