The work is devoted to the synthesis of humanitarian and natural-scientific approaches to the study of polyclinic penetrators. It summarizes archaeological material and analyzes well-known written sources about the arrows of Asian nomads of the II century BC. - XIV century AD The results of the study of the ballistic characteristics of polyclinic tips are given. For the first time, the mathematical theory of empirical prediction was used to determine the penetrating power of ancient arrows. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the modern methodology of scientific search, the patterns of development of manual throwing weapons of nomads of the Eurasian steppes were determined.