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I dunno if a thrown spear counts as “short range” in a primitive world
Atlatls are over 20000 y/o and are futher range than just spears.
Bow and arrows show up in the archaeological record ~70000 years ago.
So, yeah both those are longer range than spears and predate writing and use of most metals.
So if you consider pre bronze age primitive; yes spears are short range.
Heck, slings were around even before bow and arrows and can definitely be considered long range
We probably got pretty good at picking birds out of trees with those things back when our dinner depended on it. There were definitely some impressive acts of slingery going on at some point.
They recently discovered evidence that the atlatl was used 30,000 years ago.
It was long enough! Most animals just don't get ranged weapons; it's as if we're killing them by merely looking at them.