- Atlatl Literature
Resources
-
To report errors on this page or to add additional information,
please contact: Ted
Bailey
Many thanx for all the Atlatl Reference
Material submitted by:
- Melvyn Marlo Brown; Dean
Pritchard; Pascal Chauvaux; Cathryn
A. Hoyt
An Informal Collection of Atlatl
References
By: Melvyn Marlo Brown
Reference Librarian, Branson Library
New Mexico State University
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 1996 17:40:16 -0600 (MDT)
From: Marlo Brown (marlo@lib.nmsu.edu)
To: thrower@dfw.net
Subject: books with atlatl/spear/dart information
There have been some recent questions on atlatl and dart design.
I've found
some interesting information in some books and thought I'd mention
it here.
Kurt Saxon's _The Waeponeer_ included a short article on throwing
sticks to
be used with *arrows*. These throwing sticks used a peg to engage
the nock
on the back of the arrow. The article was taken from an old
_Popular
Mechanics_ or some similar magazine, if I remember right.
_Outdoor Survival Skills_ is an excellent book by Larry Dean Olsen
which
tells how to survive in the wilds with Stone Age technology. This
includes
the atlatl. He tells how to make one and use it. Photos show a
student
launching a dart that's about 6' in length. The book also tells
how to knap
flint for the points and how to make a primitive bow and
arrows.
_Waepon s_, by The Diagram Group, shows examples of many types of
devices,
including two atlatls. One is a woomera from Australia, and the
other is
made from one piece of carved bone and is from prehistoric France.
Another
cool artifact shown is the Japanese uchi-ne, a feathered fighting
dart that's
between 30 and 40cm. in length. There is a whole chapter on
hand-thrown
missles, including slings, clubs, boomerangs, edged devices
and
spears. Although the treatment is fairly simple, this book will
probably be
fascinating to anyone interested in "primitive" arms. Many public
libraries
have it.
_Warfare in the Classical World: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of
Waepon s,
Warriors and Warfare in the Ancient Civilizations of Greece and
Rome_ is a
wonderful book which includes many full-color illustrations of
"grunts" in
the ancient world. It also deals with battles, campaigns,
strategies and
tactics. One of the most interesting entries shows the likely
outcome of a
phalanx vs. a Roman unit using the pilum, or throwing spear to
break up the
phalanx. Another illo shows the evolution of the Roman throwing
spear, from
the heavy pilum to the plumbata, a throwing dart with an egg-
shaped weight
to aid its penetration. One contemporary source credits the
plumbata with
having the best range of all hand-thrown spears of its day. John
Warry is
the author, and it was pubished by the University of Oklahoma
Press.
-
Dean
Pritchard of Boise, ID found the following reference book
containing atlatl information:
-
- "Stone Age in the Great Basin" by Emory Strong; published by
Binford & Mort out of Portland, Oregon. This is an excellent
source of historical information for Stone Age artifacts within
the Great Basin. It Should be available in any book store or
library.
Pascal
Chauvaux of Cerfontaine, Belgium provided the following atlatl
references:
-
- Bellier, C., and Cattelain, P., 1990, La Chasse dans la
Préhistoire du Paléolithique au
Néolithique en Europe. CEDARC, Treignes, Belgium.
Cattelain, P., 1986, Traces Macroscopiques d,Utilisation sur les
Propulseurs Paléolithiques.
- Helinium XXVI:193-205.Cattelain, P., 1988, Fiches Typologiques
de l,Industrie de l,Os
Préhistorique. Cahier II: Propulseurs. Université de
Provence, Aix-en-Provence
Cattelain, P., 1989, Un Crochet de Propulseur Solutréen de
la Grotte de Combe-Saunière I
(Dordogne). Bulletin de la Société
Préhistorique Française 86:213-216.
Cattelain, P., 1991, Les Propulseurs Paléolithiques:
Utilisation et Traces d,Utilisation.
Archéologie Expérimentale, Tome 2 - La Terre. Actes
du Colloque International
"Expérimentation en Archéologie: Bilan et
Perspectives, pp. 74-81. Archéodrome de
Beaune, 1988. Errance, Paris.
Cattelain, P., and Perpère, M., 1993a, Quand les
Préhistoriens Vont à la Chasse... Musée-
Homme, 1er trimestre 1993:51-54.
Cattelain, P., and Perpère, M., 1993b, Tir
Expérimental de Sagaies et de Flèches
Emmanchées de Pointes de la Gravette. Archéo-Situla
17-20:3-25.
Cattelain, P., and Perpère, M., 1994, Tir
Expérimental de Sagaies et de Flèches
Emmanchées de Pointes de la Gravette. Actes du Colloque
International "Les sites de
Reconstitutions Archéologiques, Archéosite
d,Aubechies-Beloeil, September 1993:94-100.
Cattelain, P., and Stodiek, U., 1996, Propulseurs
Paléolithiques Inédits ou Mal Connus. La
Vie Préhistorique, pp. 76-79. Editions Faton, Dijon.
Cundy, B. J., 1989, Formal Variation in Australian Spear and
Spearthrower Technology. BAR
International Series 546. British Archaeological Reports,
Oxford.
Davidson, D. S., 1934, Australian Spear-traits and Their
Derivations. Journal of the
Polynesian Society 43:41-72, 143-162.
Davidson, D. S., 1936, The Spearthrower in Australia. Proceedings
of the American
Philosophical Society 76:445-483.
Geneste, J.-M., and Plisson, H., 1986, Le Solutréen de la
Grotte Combe-Saunière, Première
Approche Palethnologique. Gallia Préhistoire 29:9-27.
Geneste, J.-M., and Plisson, H., 1990, Technologie Fonctionnelle
des Pointes à Cran
Solutréennes: L,apport des Nouvelles Données de la
Grotte de Combe-Saunière (Dordogne).
Feuilles de Pierre. Les Industries à Pointes
Foliacées du Paléolithique Supérieur
Européen
Feuilles de pierre. Les Industries à Pointes
Foliacées du Paléolithique. Actes du Colloque de
Cracovie, 1989. ERAUL 42:293-320.
Morel, P., 1993, Impacts de Projectiles sur le Gibier: Quelques
Eléments d,une Approche
Expérimentale. Traces et Fonction: Les Gestes
Retrouvés. Colloque international de Liège,
1990. ERAUL 50:55-57.
Nelson, E. W., 1899, The Eskimo about the Bering Strait.
Eighteenth Annual Report of the
Bureau of American Ethnology to the secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution, 1896-1897.
Washington, D.C.
Petersen, H. C., 1986, Skinboats of Greenland: Ships and Boats of
the North, Volume 1, pp.
69-97. National Museum of Denmark, Roskilde.
Plisson,H., and Geneste, J.-M., 1989, Analyse Technologique des
Pointes à Cran
Solutréennes du Placard (Charente), du Fourneau de Diable,
du Pech de la Boissière et de
Combe-Saunière (Dordogne). Paléo 1:65-106.Roth, R.,
1992, Histoire de l,Archerie. Arc et
Arbalète. Max Chaleil, Montpellier.
Roth, W. E., 1909, North Queensland Ethnography, Bulletin 13.
Fighting waepon s. Records
of the South Australian Museum VII:189-211, p. LVIII-LXI.
Rozoy, J.-G., 1978, Les Derniers Chasseurs.
L,Epipaléolithique en France et en Belgique.
Essai de Synthèse. Bulletin de la Société
Archéologique Champenoise, no. spécial.
Rozoy, J.-G., 1992, Le Propulseur et l,Arc. Chez les Chasseurs
Préhistoriques. Techniques
et Démographie Comparées. Paléo
4:175-192.
Spencer, B., 1914, Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of
Australia. Macmillan and
Company, London.
Stodiek, U., 1990, Jungpaläolithische Speerschleudern und
Speere - ein Rekonstrucktionsversuch. Experimentelle
Archäologie in Deutschland. Archäologische
Mitteilungen aus Nordwestdeutschland 4:287-297.
Stodiek, U., 1992, A Propos de l,Emmanchement des Propulseurs au
Paléolithique
Supérieur. Le Peuplement Magdalénien,
Paléogéographie Physique et Humaine. Colloque
de Chancelade, octobre 1988, pp. 317-331.
Stodiek, U., 1993, Zur Technologie der jungpalaolitischen
Speerschleuder. Eine Studie auf
der Basis archäologischer, ethnologischer und experimenteller
Erkenntnisse. Tübinger
- Monographien zur Urgeschichte 9.
Selected Bibliography for Atlatls compiled
by Cathryn A. Hoyt
- TEXAS HISTORICAL COMMISSION; AUSTIN 1995
-
- Alloway, David
- 1995 Using the Atlatl as an Educational Tool. The Cache
3.
-
- Anonymous
- n.d. Survival with the Atlatl. Tate Enterprises. Aurora,
CO.
-
- Baker, W.E., and A.V. Kidder
- 1937 A Spearthrower from Oklahoma. American Antiquity
3:51,52.
-
- Bird, George
- 1985 The Atl-Atl or Spear Throwing Stick. The Artifact
23(3):7,18.
-
- Bridges, P.S.
- 1990 Osteological Correlates of Waepon Use. In A Life in
Science: Papers in Honor of J. Lawrence Angel, edited by Jane E.
Buikstra. Kampsville: Center for American Archaeology (Scientific
Papers 6). [Concerning transition from atlatl-use to bow and
arrow-use]
-
- 1989 Changes in Activities with the Shift to Agriculture in
the Southeastern United States. Current Anthropology
30:385,394.
-
- Brown, Jeffrey L.
- 1967 The Use of Atlatl Weights: A Suggestion. Southwestern
Lore 32(4):84,5.
-
- Brues, Alice M.
- 1959 The Spearman and the Archer. American Anthropologist
61:457,469.
-
- Butler, B. Robert, and Douglas Osborne
- 1959 Archaeological Evidence for the Use of Atlatl Weights in
the Northwest. American Antiquity 25:215,224.
-
- Butler, William B.
- 1975 The Atlatl: the Physics of Function and Per-formance.
Plains Anthropologist 20(68):
- 105,110.
-
- 1977 Atlatl Functions, Fancy, Flex, and Fun: a Reply to
Howard. Plains Anthropologist 22(76) Part 1:161,162.
-
- 1980 Penetrating Elephant Hide with Wood Atlatl Darts. Plains
Anthropologist 25(90):353,356.
- Cole, G.S.
- 1972 The Bannerstone as a Spear Weight. Mich-igan
Archaeologist 18(1):1,18.
-
- Corliss, David W.
- 1980 Arrowpoint or Dart Point: An Uninteresting Answer to a
Tiresome Question. American Antiquity 45(2):351,352. [Response
to D.H. Thomas 1978]
-
- Cosgrove, C.B.
- 1947 Caves of the Upper Gila and Hueco Areas of New Mexico and
Texas. Peabody Museum, Harvard University, Papers 4(2). [See
page 52 for notching of atlatl dart and arrow
fore-shafts]
-
- Cressman, L.S., and A.D. Krieger
- 1940 Atlatls and Associated Artifacts from Southcentral
Oregon. In Early Man in Ore-gon: Archaeological Studies in the
Northern Great Basin, edited by L.S. Cressman et al., University
of Oregon Monographs, Studies in Anthropology 3:16,52.
-
- Cushing, Frank Hamilton
- 1895 The Arrow. American Anthropologist 8(4):307,349.
[Description of weighted atlatl]
-
- Dalley, Gardiner F., and K.L. Peterson
- 1973 Additional Artifacts. In Hogup Cave. University of Utah
Anthropological Papers, No. 93. [Discription of weighted
atlatl]
-
- Davenport, J.W.
- 1943 Some Experiments in the Use of the Atlatl. Bulletin of
the Texas Archeological and Paleontological Society 15:30,37.
-
- Davidson, O.S.
- 1936 The Spearthrower in Australia. Proceedings of the
American Philosophical Society 76(4):445,483.
-
- Dickson, D.B.
- 1985 The Atlatl Assessed: A Review of Recent Anthropological
Approaches to Prehistoric North American Waeponry. Bulletin of the
Texas Archeological Society 56:1,38.
-
- Ekholm, Gordon F.
- 1962 U-Shaped "Ornaments" Identified as Finger-loops from
Atlatls. American Antiquity 28:181,185.
- Evans, O.F.
- 1959 The Development of the Atlatl and the Bow. Bulletin of
the Texas Archeological Society 30:159,162.
-
- Fenenga, Franklin, and Joe Ben Wheat
- 1940 An Atlatl from the Baylor Rock Shelter, Culberson County,
Texas. American Antiq-uity 5:221,223.
-
- Garrod, Dorothy
- 1955 Palaeolithic Spearthrowers. Proceedings of the
Prehistoric Society 21:21,35.
-
- Gould, R.A.
- 1970 Spears and Spear-Throwers of the Western Desert
Aborigines of Australia. American Museum Novitates 2403.
-
- Guernsey, Samuel James
- 1931 Explorations in Northeastern Arizona. Papers of the
Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard
University 12(1). [Atlatl from Broken Roof Cave]
-
- Guernsey, Samuel James, and Alfred Vincent Kidder 1921
Basket-Maker Caves in Northeastern Arizona. Papers of the Peabody
Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University
8(2). [Description of weighted atlatl]
-
- Heizer, R.F.
- 1939 A Complete Atlatl Dart from Pershing County, Nevada.
Contributions, University of California Archaeological Research
Facility No. 21:1,36.
-
- Hester, Thomas R.
- 1974 Supplementary Notes on a Great Basin Atlatl. In Great
Basin Atlatl Studies by T.R. Hester, M.P. Mildner, and L. Spencer.
Ballena Press Publications in Archaeology, Ethnology, and History
2:29,31.
-
- Hester, T.R., M.P. Mildner, and L. Spencer 1974 Great Basin
Atlatl Studies. Ballena Press Publications in Archeology,
Ethnology, and History, 2. Ramona, Calif.
-
- Hill, M.W.
- 1948 The Atlatl or Throwing Stick: A Recent Study of Atlatls
in Use with Darts of Various Sizes. Tennessee Archaeologist
4(4):37,44.
- Howard, C.D.
- 1974 The Atlatl: Function and Performance. American Antiquity
39(1):102,104.
-
- 1976 Atlatl Function: a Reply to Butler. Plains Anthropologist
74(21):313,314.
-
- Kellar, James H.
- 1955 The Atlatl in North America. Indiana Historical Society,
Prehistory Research Series 3(3):281,352.
-
- Kelley, J.C.
- 1950 Atlatl, Bows and Arrows, Pictographs and the Pecos River
Focus. American Antiquity 26:71,74.
-
- Kidder, Alfred V., and Samuel J. Guernsey 1919 Archaeological
Explorations in Northeastern Arizona. Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 65.
-
- Krause, F.
- 1904 Sling Contrivances for Projectile Waepon s. Smithsonian
Institution, Annual Report for 1904:619,638. [Atlatl from
Grand Gulch II]
-
- Krieger, Alex D.
- 1956 Historic Survival of the Atlatl in the Lower Mississippi
Region. Bulletin of the Texas Archeological Society 27:47,58.
-
- Mason, J. Alden
- 1928 Some Unusual Spearthrowers of Ancient America. The Museum
Journal September: 290,324. Philadelphia: The Museum of the
University of Pennsylvania.
-
- Mason, Otis
- 1884 Throwing Sticks in the National Museum. Smithsonian
Annual Report, 1884, Vol. 2:279,289. Facsimile Reproduction,
SJI-3. Seattle:Shorey Bookstore.
-
- Massey, William C.
- 1961 The Survival of the Dart-Thrower on the Peninsula of Baja
California. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 17:81,93.
-
- Mau, Clayton
- 1963 Experiments with the Spear Thrower. The Bulletin of the
New York State Archae-ological Association 29:2,13.
- Mildner, M.P.
- 1974 Descriptive and Distributional Notes on Atlatls and
Atlatl Weights in the Great Basin. In Great Basin Atlatl Studies
by T.R. Hester, M.P. Mildner, and L. Spencer. Ballena Press
Publications in Archaeology, Ethnology, and History 2:7,27.
-
- Neuman, Robert W.
- 1967 Atlatl Weights from Certain Sites on the Northern and
Central Great Plains. American Antiquity 32(1):36,52.
-
- Noguera, E.
- 1945 El atlatl o tirandera. Anales del Museo Nacional de
Arqueología, Historia y Ethno-grafia III.
-
- Nuttall, Zelia
- 1891 The Atlatl or Spear-Thrower of the Ancient Mexicans.
Archaeological and Ethnological Papers of the Peabody Museum,
Harvard University 1(3):171,205.
-
- Palter, John L.
- 1976 A New Approach to the Significance of the "Weighted"
Spear Thrower. American Antiquity 41:500,510.
-
- Patterson, L.V.
- 1975 The Atlatl Function: Some Comments. The Record 31(3):5,6.
Dallas Archeological Society.
-
- 1977 Atlatl Function: Comments on Howard's Views. Plains
Anthropologist 22(76) Part 1:159,160.
-
- Peets, O.H.
- 1960 Experiments in the Use of Atlatl Weights. American
Antiquity 26:108,110.
-
- Pepper, George
- 1905 The Throwing-Stick of a Prehistoric People of the
Southwest. International Congress of Americanists, 13th Annual
Session (1905): 107,130.
-
- Raymond, Anan
- 1986 Experiments in the Function and Performance of the
Weighted Atlatl. World Archeology 18(2):153,177.
-
- Rogers, Hugh C.
- 1954 Minor Excavations in Ranger Cave, an Arkansas Bluff
Shelter. The Missouri Archaeologist 16(2):25,32.
-
- Spencer, L.
- 1974 Replicative Experiments in the Manufacture and Use of a
Great Basin Atlatl. In Great Basin Atlatl Studies, by T.R. Hester,
M.P. Mildner, and L. Spencer, pp. 37,60. Ballena Press
Publications in Archeology, Ethnology, and History, 2. Ramona,
Calif.
-
- Stirling, M.W.
- 1960 The Use of the Atlatl on Lake Patzcuaro, Michoacan.
Smithsonian Institution, Bureay of American Ethnology, Bulletin
173(57,62):265,268.
-
- Strong, Emory
- 1966 The McClure Atlatls. Screenings. The Oregon
Archaeological Society Bulletin 15(5):1,5.
-
- Swanton, John R.
- 1938 A Historic Use of the Spear-thrower in Southeastern North
America. American Antiquity 3:356,358.
-
- Thomas, David Hurst
- 1978 Arrowheads and Atl-atl Darts: How the Stone Got the
Shaft. American Antiquity 43(3):461,472.
-
- Touhy, Donald R.
- 1982 Another Great Basin Atlatl with Dart Foreshafts and Other
Artifacts: Implications and Ramifications. Journal of California
and Great Basin Anthropology 4(2):80,116.
-
- Webb, William S.
- 1957 The Development of the Spearthrower. Occasional Papers in
Anthropology No. 2. Lexington: Department of Anthropology,
University of Kentucky.
-
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