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Experiments in the Use of Atlatl Weights

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Orville H. Peets
Orville H. Peets*
Affiliation:
Indian River Hundred, Millsboro, Delaware
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Abstract

Evidence is supplied that the weights often attached to atlatls do not add to the force of the dart. An experiment was made with a copy of the atlatl with stone weight from Baylor Rock Shelter and cast with and without the weight showed no significant difference. It is proposed that the purpose of the weights was to secure balance on the hand of the atlatl-dart combination. The superiority of the harpoon over the arrow in carrying a line is given as explanation of overlapping of relics of bow and atlatl along water courses.

Type
Facts and Comments
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , July 1960 , pp. 108 - 110
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1960

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References

Browne, Jim 1940. Projectile Points. American Antiquity, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 209–13. Menasha.Google Scholar
Fenenga, Franklin and Wheat, J. B. 1940. An Atlatl from the Baylor Rock Shelter, Culberson County, Texas. American Antiquity, Vol. 5, No. 3, p. 221. Menasha.Google Scholar
Kellar, J. H. 1955. The Atlatl in North America. Indiana Historical Society, Prehistory Series, Vol. 3, No. 3. Indianapolis.Google Scholar