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A spear-thrower, spear-throwing lever, or atlatl (pronounced or ; Nahuatl ahtlatl ) is a tool that uses to achieve greater velocity in dart or javelin-throwing, and includes a Plain bearing surface that allows the user to store energy during the throw.
It may consist of a shaft with a cup or a spur at the end that supports and propels the butt of the spear. It's usually about as long as the user's arm or forearm. The user holds the spear-thrower in one hand, gripping near the end farthest from the cup. The user puts the butt end of the spear, or dart, in the cup, or grabs the spur with the end of the spear. The spear is much longer than the thrower. The user holds the thrower at the grip end, with the spear resting on the thrower and the butt end of the spear resting in the thrower's cup. The user can hold the spear, with the index and thumb, with the same hand as the thrower, with the other fingers. The user reaches back with the spear pointed at the target. Then they make an overhand throwing motion with the thrower while letting go of the spear with the fingers.Archived at Ghostarchive and the
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The dart is thrown by the action of the upper arm and wrist. The throwing arm together with the atlatl acts as a lever. The spear-thrower is a low-mass, fast-moving extension of the throwing arm, increasing the length of the lever. This extra length allows the thrower to impart force to the dart over a longer distance, thus imparting more energy and higher speeds.
Common modern ball throwers (such as molded plastic arms used for throwing tennis balls for dogs to fetch) use the same principle.
A spear-thrower is a long-range weapon and can readily impart to a projectile speeds of over .
Spear-throwers appear early in human history in several parts of the world, and have survived in use in traditional societies until the present day, as well as being revived in recent years for sporting purposes. In the United States, the Nahuatl word atlatl is often used for revived uses of spear-throwers (or the Mayan languages word hul'che); in Australia, the Dharug language word woomera is used instead.
The ancient Greeks and Romans used a leather thong or loop, known as an ankule or amentum, as a spear-throwing device. The Swiss arrow is a weapon that works similarly to amentum.
Using replicas of spear-throwers known from the Basketmaker culture and the Basketmaker II era, and using darts of different weights, it has been found that the maximum exit velocity a historical spear-thrower can achieve is 72—108 km/h (45—67 mph). Measurement methods include radar guns, Gun chronograph, and analysis of high speed films, to cross-check the results. For comparison, a 25 lbs self bow shoots arrows with a exit velocity of 129 km/h (80 mph), while a replica of a 45 lbs self bow from the Catawba people tribe achieves speeds of 160 km/h (100 mph). Claims of higher speeds of 160 km/h (100 mph) or even higher for historical self-throwers are probably due to improper measurement methods for this class of weapon.
The momentum gained by a spear thrower's dart is 1.8–2.7 kg•m•s, while that of a Catawba bow's arrow is 1.5 kg•m•s. A .357 magnum round of 158 grain gains a momentum of 3.58 kg•m•s.
Another important improvement to the spear-thrower's design was the introduction of a small weight (between 60 and 80 grams) strapped to its midsection. Some atlatlists maintain that stone weights add mass to the shaft of the device, causing resistance to acceleration when swung and resulting in a more forceful and accurate launch of the dart. Others claim that spear-thrower weights add only stability to a cast, resulting in greater accuracy.
Based on previous work done by William S. Webb, William R. Perkins claims that spear-thrower weights, commonly called "", and characterized by a centered hole in a symmetrically shaped carved or ground stone, shaped wide and flat with a drilled hole and thus a little like a large wingnut, are an improvement to the design that created a silencing effect when swung. The use of the device would reduce the telltale "zip" of a swung atlatl to a more subtle "woof" sound that did not travel as far and was less likely to alert prey. Robert Berg's theory is that the bannerstone was carried by hunters as a spindle weight to produce string from natural fibers gathered while hunting, for the purpose of tying on fletching and hafting stone or bone points.
The Aztec atlatl was often decorated with snake designs and feathers, potentially evocative of its association with Ehecatl, the Aztec wind deity. Mexicolore's page on the atlatl, and its connection with Ehecatl
During the Ice Age, the atlatl was used by humans to hunt megafauna. Ice Age megafauna offered a large food supply when other game was limited, and the atlatl gave more power to pierce their thicker skin. In this time period, atlatls were usually made of wood or bone. Improvements made to spears' edge made it more efficient as well. (2012). 9780762447039, Running Press. ISBN 9780762447039
In Europe, the spear-thrower was supplemented by the bow and arrow in the Epi-Paleolithic. Along with improved ease of use, the bow offered the advantage that the bulk of elastic energy is stored in the throwing device, rather than the projectile. Arrow shafts can therefore be much smaller and have looser tolerances for spring constant and weight distribution than atlatl darts. This allowed for more forgiving flint knapping: dart heads designed for a particular spear thrower tend to differ in mass by only a few percent. By the Iron Age, the amentum, a strap attached to the shaft, was the standard European mechanism for throwing lighter javelins. The amentum gives not only range, but also spin to the projectile.
The spear-thrower was used by early Americans as well. It may have been introduced to America during the immigration across the Beringia, and despite the later introduction of the bow and arrow, atlatl use was widespread at the time of first European contact. Atlatls are represented in the art of multiple pre-Columbian cultures, including the Basketmaker culture in the American Southwest, Maya in the Yucatán Peninsula, and Moche culture in Andes of South America. Atlatls were especially prominent in the iconography of the warriors of the Teotihuacan culture of Central Mexico. A ruler from Teotihuacan named Spearthrower Owl is an important figure described in Mayan Stele. Complete wooden spear-throwers have been found on dry sites in the western United States and in waterlogged environments in Florida and Washington. Several Amazon Basin tribes also used the atlatl for fishing and hunting. Some even preferred this weapon over the bow and arrow and used it not only in combat but also in sports competitions. Such was the case with the Tarairiú, a Tapuya tribe of migratory foragers and raiders inhabiting the forested mountains and highland savannahs of Rio Grande do Norte in mid-17th-century Brazil. Anthropologist Harald Prins offers the following description:
The atlatl, as used by these Tarairiu warriors, was unique in shape. About long and wide, this spear thrower was a tapering piece of wood carved of brown hard-wood. Well-polished, it was shaped with a semi-circular outer half and had a deep groove hollowed out to receive the end of the javelin, which could be engaged by a horizontal wooden peg or spur lashed with a cotton thread to the proximal and narrower end of the throwing board, where a few scarlet parrot feathers were tied for decoration. Their darts or javelins ... were probably made of a two-meter long wooden cane with a stone or long and serrated hard-wood point, sometimes tipped with poison. Equipped with their uniquely grooved atlatl, they could hurl their long darts from a great distance with accuracy, speed, and such deadly force that these easily pierced through the protective armor of the Portuguese or any other enemy.The spear-thrower was an important part of life, hunting, and religion in the ancient Andes. The earliest known spear-thrower of the South Americas had a proximal handle piece and is commonly referred to as an estólica in Spanish references to indigenous Andean culture . Estólica and atlatl are therefore synonymous terms. The estólica is best known archaeologically from Nazca culture and the Inca civilization, but the earliest examples are known from associations with Chinchorro mummies.
The Andean estólica had a wooden body with a hook that was made of stone or metal. These hooks have been found at multiple highland sites including Cerro Baúl, a site of the Wari culture. In the Andes, the tips of darts were often capped with metal. Arrow points commonly had the same appearance as these Andean tips. The length of a common estòlica was about 50 cm. Estólica handles were commonly carved and modeled to represent real world accounts like animals and deities.
Examples of estòlicas with no handle pieces have been interpreted as children's toys. Archaeologists found decorated examples in the Moche culture burial of the Lady of Cao at El Brujo in the Chicama valley. At her feet was a group of twenty-three atlatls with handle pieces that depicted birds. These “theatrical” estòlicas are different from normal weapons. They are much longer (80–100 cm) than the regular examples (50–60 cm). Archeologists John Whittaker and Kathryn Kamp, both faculty from Grinnell College, speculate that they might have been part of a ceremony before the burial or symbolic references to indicate that the royal woman in the burial had been a warrior.
Estólicas are depicted along with maces, clubs, and shields on Moche vessels that illustrate warfare. The atlatl appears in the artwork of Chavín de Huantar, such as on the Black and White Portal.
Among the Tlingit of Southeast Alaska, approximately one dozen old elaborately carved specimens they call "shee áan" (sitting on a branch) remain in museum collections and private collections, one having sold at auction for more than $100,000.
In September 1997, an atlatl dart fragment, carbon dated to 4360 ± 50 14C yr BP (TO 6870), was found in an ice patch on mountain Thandlät, the first of the southern Yukon Ice Patches to be studied.
The people of New Guinea and Aboriginal people in Australia also use spear-throwers. In the mid Holocene,Laet, Sigfried J. de & International Commission for the New Edition of the History of the Scientific and Cultural Development of Mankind & International Commission for a History of the Scientific and Cultural Development of Mankind. History of mankind (1994). History of humanity. Routledge; Paris : Unesco, London; New York, p.1064 Aboriginal people in Australia developed spear-throwers, known as woomeras.
As well as its practical use as a hunting weapon, it may also have had social effects. John Whittaker suggests the device was a social equalizer in that it requires skill rather than muscle power alone. Thus, women and children would have been able to participate in hunting.
Whittaker said the stone-tipped projectiles from the Aztec atlatl were not powerful enough to penetrate Spanish steel plate armor, but they were strong enough to penetrate the mail, leather and cotton armor that most Spanish soldiers wore. Whittaker said the Aztecs started their battles with atlatl darts followed with melee combat using the macuahuitl.
Atlatls are sometimes used in modern times for hunting. In the U.S., the Pennsylvania Game Commission has given preliminary approval for legalization of the atlatl for hunting certain animals. The animals that would be allowed to atlatl hunters have yet to be determined, but particular consideration has been given to deer. Currently, Alabama allows the atlatl for deer hunting, while a handful of other states list the device as legal for rough fish (those not sought for sport or food), some game birds and non-game mammals. Starting in 2007, Missouri allowed use of the atlatl for hunting wildlife (excluding deer and turkey), and starting in 2010, also allowed deer hunting during the firearms portion of the deer season (except the muzzleloader portion). Starting in 2012, Missouri allowed the use of atlatls during the fall archery deer and turkey hunting seasons and, starting in 2014, allowed the use of atlatls during the spring turkey hunting season as well. Missouri also allows use of the atlatl for fishing, with some restrictions (similar to the restrictions for spearfishing and bowfishing). The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission allows the use of atlatls for the taking of deer .
The woomera is still used today by some Aboriginal people for hunting in Australia. Yup'ik Eskimo hunters still use the atlatl, known locally as "nuqaq" (nook-ak), in villages near the mouth of the Yukon River for seal hunting.
Atlatl events commonly include the International Standard Accuracy Competition (ISAC), in which contestants throw ten times at a bull's-eye target. Other contests involving different distances or terrain may also be included, usually testing the atlatlist's accuracy rather than distance throwing.
An atlatl was the weapon of choice of a serial killer in the 2020 action-thriller The Silencing, where it is erroneously described as an illegal weapon.
Lydia Demarek, a character in the popular fantasy novel series Brotherband, owns and often uses an atlatl.
In the light novel series Evangelion ANIMA, an enemy known as a Victor uses a form of atlatl as a weapon.
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