Ancient atlatls were widely used long before bow & arrows were developed. Atlatls allowed spearing much further and faster than regular spears, atlatl darts are narrow with sharp flint tips, when launched they flex side to side like a darting fish, with their momentum along the central axis.
Ancient harpoon bone tips have been found by anthropologists in the Congo and in Europe. These may have been simply attached to a stick spear, but possibly may have been part of a composite system of atlatl launcher, dart and replaceable foreshaft as later ones in Florida and Texas had.
When the navigator Christopher Columbus arrived in the Caribbean Sea, he saw Carib people using atlatls, and when the Spanish overtook the Aztecs they found that atlatl darts could penetrate their armor.
Recently atlatls were still used by some traditional people, the Australian aborigines used them for hunting, the Yupik Eskimos used them for seal hunting.
In the US atlatls are legal to spear rough fish in some states.
I am wondering if atlatls can or have been used underwater, or if only from shore or boats. I note that later atlatls included stone weights attached to the launcher, these possibly may have been for counter-buoyancy?
Before spearguns/pole spears/Hawaiian slings had springs/compressed gas/ rubber bands, were atlatls used by divers? Just curious.
The materials used were mostly gathered from waterside plants, darts from straight stalks of river cane.
[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlatl]Atlatl - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
Precision Atlatl & Dart Systems - Atlatl.com - Atlatl Bob - Maker of Authentic Atlatl Systems
I met a guy last summer who made traditional atlatls, awesome craftmanship, the darts were 6'/ 2m long, they could be split into 2 pieces that fit with the launcher into a quiver (holder).
Ancient harpoon bone tips have been found by anthropologists in the Congo and in Europe. These may have been simply attached to a stick spear, but possibly may have been part of a composite system of atlatl launcher, dart and replaceable foreshaft as later ones in Florida and Texas had.
When the navigator Christopher Columbus arrived in the Caribbean Sea, he saw Carib people using atlatls, and when the Spanish overtook the Aztecs they found that atlatl darts could penetrate their armor.
Recently atlatls were still used by some traditional people, the Australian aborigines used them for hunting, the Yupik Eskimos used them for seal hunting.
In the US atlatls are legal to spear rough fish in some states.
I am wondering if atlatls can or have been used underwater, or if only from shore or boats. I note that later atlatls included stone weights attached to the launcher, these possibly may have been for counter-buoyancy?
Before spearguns/pole spears/Hawaiian slings had springs/compressed gas/ rubber bands, were atlatls used by divers? Just curious.
The materials used were mostly gathered from waterside plants, darts from straight stalks of river cane.
[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlatl]Atlatl - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
Precision Atlatl & Dart Systems - Atlatl.com - Atlatl Bob - Maker of Authentic Atlatl Systems
I met a guy last summer who made traditional atlatls, awesome craftmanship, the darts were 6'/ 2m long, they could be split into 2 pieces that fit with the launcher into a quiver (holder).
Last edited: