The Origin and Authenticity of an Atlatl and an Atlatl Dart from Lassen County, California
Author(s): Franklin Fenenga; Robert F Heizer
Year: 1941
Summary
J. Whittaker: Atlatl of willow, simple stick, slightly curved, with slight finger notches, groove and integral hook, 75 cm long. Cane dart, hardwood foreshaft broken off, 115 cm long, weighs 35.2 gm, v-shaped nock like arrow, 3 radial fletchings. Authors made and tested models, cast 150-250 feet.
Origin: Owned in 1910s-20s by “Charlie Paiute,” Maidu, who claimed to hunt with it. His daughter and others deny, as do ethnographic California groups in culture trait studies, although several archaeological specimens are known from the area. Could be conservative survival, fake or experiment by CP, who may have known about SW atlatls, or found a specimen and reinvented use. Authors favor last explanation.
[see also Heizer 1945, apparently it was diffusion from an archaeologist!]
Cite this Record
The Origin and Authenticity of an Atlatl and an Atlatl Dart from Lassen County, California. Franklin Fenenga, Robert F Heizer. American Antiquity. 7 (2): 134-141. 1941 ( tDAR id: 423324)
Keywords
General
Atlatl
•
bow & arrow
•
Hunting
•
Weapon
Geographic Keywords
USA
Temporal Keywords
Mesolithic
•
Neolithic
•
Palaeolithic
Spatial Coverage
min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;
Individual & Institutional Roles
Contact(s): EXARC Experimental Archaeology Collection Manager
Record Identifiers
ExArc Id(s): 10135
Notes
Rights & Attribution: The information in this record was originally compiled by Dr. Roeland Paardekooper, EXARC Director.