articles Wooden
darts were known at least since the Middle
Paleolithic (
Schöningen,
Torralba,
Clacton-on-Sea and
Kalambo Falls), ~400,000 years old. While the spear-thrower is capable of casting a dart well over one hundred meters, it is most accurately used at distances of twenty meters or less. The spearthrower is believed to have been in use by
Homo sapiens since the
Upper Paleolithic (around 30,000 years ago). Most
stratified European finds come from the
Magdalenian (late upper Palaeolithic). In this period, elaborate pieces, often in the form of animals, are common. The earliest reliable data concerning atlatls have come from several caves in France dating to the Upper Paleolithic, about 21,000 to 17,000 years ago. The earliest known example is a 17,500-year-old
Solutrean atlatl made of reindeer antler, found at Combe Saunière (Dordogne), France. It is possible that the atlatl was invented earlier than this, as
Mungo Man from 42,000 BP displays arthritis in his right elbow, a pathology referred to today as the "Atlatl elbow," resulting from many years of forceful torsion from using an atlatl. At present, there is no evidence for the use of atlatls in Africa. Peoples such as the
Maasai and
Khoisan throw spears without any aids, but the use of atlatls in hunting is limited in comparison to spears because the animal must be close and already immobile. 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. 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 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
estólica is also known from
Moche culture, including detailed representations on painted pottery, and in representations on textiles of the
Wari culture. 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. Along with this, archeological evidence from the Andean highlands show that many Estólica's were created out of mammal bone. Experimental replication demonstrates that bone was implemented and an effective alternative that can be produced relatively quickly. 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, 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 Aztecs started their battles with atlatl darts followed with
melee combat using the
macuahuitl. == ==