A New Type of Atlatl from a Cave Shelter on the Rio Grande near Shumla, Valverde County, Texas
Author(s): Fletcher Gardner; George C Martin
Year: 1933
Summary
J. Whittaker: Previous finds of notched arrows in atlatl-age deposits could be contemporaneity, or now explained by find of atlatl to cast them.
Ash wood fragment with distal groove and "wedge-shaped" hook to engage arrow nock, narrow, rigid, proximal end missing, decorative notches on bottom.
Cane arrow shaft 3/8" diam, end narrowed by sinew wrap, flared for nock, 3 feather traces.
Experimental atlatl with commercial arrows got similar range but less accuracy than bow.
[Hard to swallow - arrow engaged with hook with nock vertical - would the hook really hold for a throw? Can you actually throw something as short as an arrow with an atlatl? – I haven’t tried. Unscientific excavation - does the arrow really belong with the atlatl?]
Cite this Record
A New Type of Atlatl from a Cave Shelter on the Rio Grande near Shumla, Valverde County, Texas. Fletcher Gardner, George C Martin. Big Bend Basket Maker Papers. San Antonio, Texas: Witte Memorial Museum. 1933 ( tDAR id: 423360)
Keywords
General
Atlatl
•
bow & arrow
•
Hunting
•
Weapon
Geographic Keywords
USA
Temporal Keywords
Chalcolithic
•
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): 10171
Notes
Rights & Attribution: The information in this record was originally compiled by Dr. Roeland Paardekooper, EXARC Director.