Annotated Atlatl
Bibliography
John Whittaker
2/2004
Introduction
I have accumulated
this bibliography over the last few years, making notes for my own uses. Since
I have access to some obscure articles, I thought it might be useful to put
this information where others, especially beginners, can get at it. Comments in
brackets [ ] are my own comments, opinions, and critiques, and not everyone
will agree with them. The thoroughness of the annotation varies depending on
when I read the piece and what my interests were at the time. Numerous articles from atlatl newsletters
describing contests and scores are not included. There are a few peripheral
items, relating to topics like the dating of the introduction of the bow,
projectile points, and skeletal anatomy. The serious researcher should find
Lorenz Bruechert’s (2000) bibliography, which is more complete in some areas,
but less annotated than mine.
The articles use
a variety of measurements. Some useful conversions:
1”=2.54 cm 1’=30.48 cm 1 yard = .9144 m 1 m =
3.28 feet (3’ 3 1/3”)
1 mile = 1.609
km 1 km = .622 miles
1 oz
= 31.103 gm or 480 grains 1 grain =
.0648 gm or .002 oz
1 gram = 15.43 grains or .032 oz
Ahler,
Stanley A. and Phil R. Geib
2002 Why Flute? Folsom Point Design and
Adaptation. Journal of
Archaeological Science 27:799-820.
Folsom fluting produces
a very thin point that can be hafted in a split haft with only leading edge and
tip exposed, allowing maximum penetration but controlling breakage so that only
the tip breaks off and the point can be resharpened and reused many times.
Probably an adaptation to mobile bison hunting where a reliable, maintainable
weapon is needed, but where suitable material is not always available. Assumes
used with atlatl. Summarizes previous
ideas on fluting, proposes a convincing hafting model.
2002 Weapons and wunan: production, function, and
exchange of Kimberley points. Australian Aboriginal Studies 2002 (1):
13-42.
NW Australia,
bifacial pressure flaked points. Microscopic residues and use-wear. Change in
production, design, function, and distribution through time. See lithic
bibliography.
Oral tales: culture hero Tjungkun
made 1st spearthrower from limb with branch stub (later became long
slender form with lashed on hook). Wodoi made 1st stone tipped
spears to throw with them. Other myths, intro of pressure flaking by blanket
lizard, dentate points made by nightjar etc. Kimberley and other points often
used to tip long compound spears, also as knives, and for exchange.
Phragmites for
shafts of composite spears. Point in resin blob on foreshaft, usually < 4 cm
long. Spears long and light, av 170 gm, “low mass, high velocity with point
that disengaged from the shaft to promote bleeding.” [only light in comp to
other Aust spears].
Allely, Steve
1992 Great Basin
Atlatls: Notes from the N.W. Corner. Bulletin of Primitive Technology
1(4): 48‑56.
Describes
several atlatls of different types. [Good illustrations, one of the
best sources to
use replicating different styles.] Includes good drawings of Roaring Springs,
Nicolarson Cave, Plush Cave, and McClure atlatls.
Alva, Walter, and Christopher B. Donnan
1994 Royal Tombs of Sipan. Los Angeles:
University of California.
Moche, Peru,
fabulously wealthy tomb.
P 175 drawing of
spear thrower: straight rod with cast copper hook in form of animal head,
hooked handle in form of human head, geometric decoration on shaft. A second atlatl, not shown, had wooden
handle carved with bird head. P 127, procession of warriors with clubs, spears,
and atlatls (on pot), but mostly shown using clubs or maces and slings in
combat.
Ames, Kenneth N. and Herbert D. G.
Maschner
1999 Peoples of the Northwest Coast: Their
Archaeology and Prehistory. London: Thames and Hudson.
P 236 clear
drawing of the Skagit atlatl carving. See Fladmark et al 1987.
[However, no
other mention of atlatls, despite chapter on warfare and discussion of
weapons.]
Angel, J. Lawrence
1966 Early
Skeletons from Tranquility, California. Smithsonian Contributions to
Anthropology 2(1).
Early Horizon
[Archaic] burials with mano/metate, mortar/pestle, Olivella beads etc, but
possible association with extinct bison, horse, camel. [Angel accepts
association, but artifacts and stratigraphic problems suggest post-Pleistocene date,
no C14 date.]
Hard life
indicated by skeletons of 30 individs, 3M, 4F complete.
p3: Diagnoses
"atlatl elbow": 6 of 13 individs show arthritis of elbow
"usually including eburnation after friction removal of head of cartilage
over capitulum, the "ball" against which concave upper surface of
head of radius rubs during flexion and extension of elbow and pronation and
supination of hand. What repeated and stressful action combines those
movements? One thinks at once of baseball pitcher or javelin thrower, except
that this equally strains shoulder and clavicular joints." Atlatl allows
throw without extending and abducting shoulder, but puts extra stress on arm
muscles and elbow. [Important article, but incorrect understanding of atlatl
throwing motion.]
Anonymous
1989 Unusual Spearthrowers from Key Marco on the
Gulf Coast of Florida. The Atlatl 2(1):4-5.
Two of Cushing's
finds described briefly, line drawings. [Not enough info and no proper
reference]
Anonymous
1990 World's
Record Atlatl Throw. The Atlatl 3(1):6
Bill Holladay at
Rabbit Stick 1989: primitive equipment - 380'5",
open equipment -
428'6".
Anonymous
1991 Notes from
All Over. The Atlatl 4(1):8
Manuel White
record throw: 476'5".
Anonymous
1992 Worlds
Record Distance Throw. The Atlatl 5(3):7
Wayne Brian
616.8' (188 m) No equipment info.
Anonymous
1992 New Record
Cast. The Atlatl 5(4):7
Wayne Brian 638'8" (194.67 m); unofficial: 690'
(210.31 m) 10/7/92.
Action photo, no
equipment info.
Anonymous
1993 Safety First
- Says New WAA Board. The Atlatl 6(3): 1-2
Establishing
guidelines.
News report of
boy struck in head by Crow throwing arrow (not atlatl).
1988 Prehistory of Siberia and the Bering Sea. In
Crossroads of Continents: Cultures of Siberia and Alaska, edited by W.
W. Fitzhugh and A. Crowell, pp.117-129. Smithsonian Institution Press,
Washington D.C.
Illustrations of
various harpoon tips and stone tools. Old Bering Sea Culture (ca 500 BC)
“winged objects” elaborately carved of ivory are considered to be
counterbalance on the end of a harpoon with heavy head, and incorporate a
socket for atlatl hook.
Auel, Jean
2002 The Shelters of Stone. Crown
Publishers.
[see Edgar 2002]
Bachechi, L., P.-F. Fabbri, and F. Mallegni
1997 An Arrow-Caused Lesion in a Late Upper
Paleolithic Human Pelvis. Current Anthropology.
By Mesolithic,
bow + arrow widely distributed, but no evidence before end of Upper
Paleolithic.
A female burial,
Epigravettian, San Teodoro Cave, Sicily has fragment of backed triangular
microlith in pelvis with sepsis and healing. Part of light point, so arrow
likely [not adequate evidence]. Date ca. 14,000-12,000 b.p.
Other examples
listed.
Baer, John Leonard
1921 A
Preliminary Report on the So-Called "Bannerstones". American
Anthropologist n.s. 23(4): 445-459.
C.C. Abbott
responsible for term "bannerstone".
3 bannerstones
with short stone shafts from NC, one pictured [can't tell if hole goes all the
way through]
Describes
manufacture process from site in PA: slate blocked out, pecked, scraped,
drilled, polished. Experiments by McGuire suggest 10.5 hrs for all that.
Fragile,
unsharpened, no practical use: "mounted upon handles for ceremonial
use".
Baker, W. E. and A. V. Kidder
1937 A Spear Thrower from Oklahoma. American
Antiquity 3(1): 51-52.
Spear thrower
predates bows - SW evidence.
Cave find from
Cimarron R., NW of Boise City.
Distal fragment
of Basketmaker type, groove, flush hook, good illustration.
Associated
sandals, corn, no pottery, slotted foreshaft.
Bandi, H. G.
1988 Mis bas et non defecation. Nouvelle interpretation de trois
propulseurs magdaleniens sur de bases zoologiques, ethnologiques et
symboliques. Espacio, tiempo y forma, serie I, Prehistoria
t.1 :133-147.
[Giving birth and not defecation : New interpretation of three
magdalenian spearthrowers on the basis of zoology, ethnology, and symbology.]
See Demoulin 2002.
1986 A Note on
Indian Bow Making, or the Secrets of Sinew Revealed. Flintknapping Digest
3(1): 10-12.
Experiments with
sinew – says it shrinks 3%.
1994 A Note on
Indian Bow Making, or the Secrets of Sinew Revealed. Bulletin of Primitive
Technology 7(1):68-69.
Experiments with
sinew and sinew backings.
Baugh, Richard A.
1998 Atlatl Dynamics. Lithic Technology
32(1):31-41.
[Possibly
useful, but explanations of physics are so poor that it is hard to evaluate the
model unless you have strong physics background. I don't.]
Video digitizer
and mathematical model used to predict velocity of darts under given
conditions. - horizontal force, wrist torque, mass of hand, radius of gyration,
weight of dart, length of atlatl. Simpler model than Cotterell and Kamminga
1989.
Hand-thrown dart
has short lever action (hand+wrist) while atlatl is much longer lever.
Conclusions:
Atlatl length (between .3-.75m) has little effect on velocity, although optimum
length was .45 m. Adding a weight to atlatl can increase velocity up to 2.7%,
but if atlatl at optimum length, always loses velocity. Heavy darts do better
with short atlatls. Hand thrown dart (2 different weights) has 62-75% kinetic
energy of same thrown by atlatl. Flexible atlatl transfers more energy to dart
- their atlatl stored ca. 6.9% of dart's kinetic energy - more flex would be
even better. Dart flex contributes
little energy to forward motion, is mostly vibrational, but important in
getting straight throw despite curving motion of atlatl. [Are differences of
3-7% real or random? I am dubious about effects of both atlatl weights and
flex, but he’s right that dart flex adds little energy.]
2001 Arrow
Straightening. Bulletin of Primitive Technology 22:51-52.
Use of heat and
grooved steatite shaft straightener.
Baugh,
Richard A.
2002 The Tuning of Atlatl Darts. Bulletin of
Primitive Technology 23:89-91.
Force is not
applied in a straight line, so dart must flex. If end kicks up, dart is too
limber, if down, too stiff. Test before fletching. The harder you throw, the
stiffer the dart should be. Fairly wide range is acceptable; well-tuned dart
works for hard to moderate throw but kicks down for easy toss. Periodicity of
dart vibration must match distance/time of throw. Flex of atlatl has little
effect on “tuning” and flex of atlatl or dart contributes almost no energy to
throw.
2002 Atlatl Flexibility Analysis Via Computer
Modeling. accessed 7/02 on http://www.primitiveways.com/pt-atlatlflex.html.
“Extravagant
claims made for increased dart velocity with flexible atlatl.” Uses computer
model to show that to get 11% increase in kinetic energy, need to deflect the
tip of the atlatl ca. 10 cm. [Possible with some very flexible atlatls.]
Baugh,
Richard A.
2003 Dynamics of Spear Throwing. American
Journal of Physics 71 (4): 345-350.
Atlatl is a
lever, operating principle is “Wrist torque applied to the length of the atlatl
allows wrist rotation to increase the velocity of the dart.” Simple computer
model to predict velocity of dart, affected by mass of dart and length and mass
of atlatl. Horizontal force and wrist
torque versus hand position derived from video record of throws; two other
variables are hand mass and hand radius of gyration. Some horizontal force
applied by hand, but most force from wrist rotation of the lever arm formed by
atlatl. Spear, ball and atlatl throws are all the same except for the length of
this lever. Can model a flexible atlatl
by inserting a massless spring in model between hook and dart.
Model results: Atlatl length for max
velocity is shorter than most actual use, but this may be because model assumes
that human effort is not affected by mass of atlatl, or difference in velocity
from atlatl length may be too small to be perceptible. Atlatl weights reduce
velocity slightly, more as they are larger and further from hand. [His graph
suggests up to 30% decrease in velocity with 120 gm wt at 80% of distance from
hand.] Flexible atlatl should increase velocity. [But seems to have less effect
than weights, maybe 12% increase. Also, his model does not take account of the
dart flex, and he uses a range of spring models “representing actual practice”
– but nowhere is there evidence that he actually measured atlatl flex.]
[I have a hard time evaluating the
mathematical model, but the results make sense. We need more of this kind of
work.]
Becker, Lou
1992 Atlatl Boar
Hunt. The Atlatl 5(3):1-5.
Large darts -
160-195 gm, steel broadheads, > 1 m penetration in boar at 15-20 m.
Becker, Lou
1995 Atlatl and
Primitive Self-Bow Boar Hunt 1995. The Atlatl 8(3):7-8
Hunt story, no
lessons.
Becker, Lou
1995 Care and
Feeding of Wooden Atlatl Darts. The Atlatl 8(2):1-2
Favors poplar,
birch woods. Target = 117 gm, hunting = 259 gm, fletched with 3 or 4 feathers
6.5-7.5 inches long. Explains straightening darts by "stroking" with
a hook.
Becker, Lou
1999 Let's Excercise those "Atlatl"
Muscles. The Atlatl 12(1):4-5.
Simple
excercises with spring cable set.
Becker, Lou
2001 Hunting Rough Fish with the Ancient Atlatl. The
Atlatl 14(2):12-13.
2002 Hunting Rough Fish with the Ancient Atlatl. The
Cast Spring 2002:15-16.
Michigan carp
fishing. Heavy dart (190 gm), prefers banks and wading to boat.
Becker, Lou
2001 Atlatl
Rough Fish Hunting Equipment. The Atlatl 14(3):10.
Prefers wood or
fiberglass darts, hand held reel, gives instructions for making reel.
Berg, Robert S.
1995 A Wild Boar
Hunt at Cold Brook: An Eolithic Adventure. Chips 7(3):4-5.
1996 A Wild Boar
Hunt at Cold Brook: A Stone Age Adventure. The Atlatl 9(1):1-2
Same short
account of killing boar with atlatl and dart.
2001 Aztec
Atlatl Battle. Thunderbird Atlatl Webpage (http://www.thunderbirdatlatl.com/)
accessed 10/11/01.
Rules for a team
game.
2001 Benefits of
Atlatl Weights. . Thunderbird Atlatl Webpage (http://www.thunderbirdatlatl.com/)
accessed 10/11/01.
Flex of atlatl
and dart has little effect because you can’t get out more energy than you put
in. Weights help accuracy only. Weight closer to distal end is less efficient.
Berg, Bob
2002 The Atlatl Hunt that Got Weird or Blunt
Trauma. The Atlatl 15(2):12
Bob lent his
atlatl, killed deer with a rock.
2002 Atlatl Long Shots and Primal Instinct. The
Atlatl 15(1):8
Hunting fallow deer,
two long shots, 40-55 yards. Doug Majorsky only wounded the deer because dart
was too light (3 1/2 oz) and stone point too loose. Berg killed his, gear not
specified [but presumably stone tip].
Berg, Bob
2003 Fishing with Atlatls and Harpoons. The
Cast Spring 2003:15.
Carp and gar,
using night lights, harpoon tips, line on darts. Photos of tackle and catch.
1997 Sinew-reinforced and composite bows:
Technology, function, and social implications.
In Projectile Technology. H. Knecht, ed., pp. 143-160. Plenum Press: NY.