The spear-thrower
A hooked shaft lengthens the arm and doubles the range of a thrown spear.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 13 thousand years
- Known to
- ± 3 thousand years
- Era
- Late Pleistocene, Quaternary
The atlatl is a rod with a hook or cup at one end that engages the base of a dart, extending the effective lever of the throwing arm and roughly doubling velocity and range. Examples in bone and antler survive from around 30,000 years ago in France, some elaborately carved with animals. Together with the bow it moves hunting decisively to distance, and the technology persists into historical times in Australia, Mesoamerica and the Arctic.