| Tonchi |
11-30-2005 02:13 AM |
The purpose of the atlatl was to effectively extend the ARM LENGTH of the thrower. The effect was the same as the difference between a 6-foot tall man and a 5-year-old child; it was like having an arm twice as long as a normal human, thus producing speed and power which seemed almost supernatural. The weapon existed at least since the ice age, and was independently developed both in Europe and the Western Hemisphere. Indians in what is now the American Southwest had also been using this weapon for millenia, along with the bola which Indians in Argentina made famous. Seems that news of a cool new weapon spread fast, even in prehistory :D
The Aztec warriors were the ones who introduced it to the Spaniards, point first, with the Spaniards completely unaware that prehistoric caves in their country contained the bones of animals killed with the same weapon tens of thousands of years earlier. What the articles you have referenced may neglect to mention is that the Spaniards had crossbow-like weapons which could be cranked back to fire steel darts which were every bit as effective as the atlatl tipped with razor-sharp flaked obsidian. They also brought pistols and cannons, which were pretty devastating too but didn't work so well when the Aztecs pitched them into the canals during battles.
The thing I always found interesting was the name given to this ancient spear thrower by the Aztecs: "atl" means "water" in their language of Nahuatl (which also ends in "atl"). In fact, many Aztec words end in "atl". So the sound must have had special significance. But we didn't have anybody to teach us linguistics of Mezo America when I was at the University of Colorado.
Anyway, by all means try using this weapon. I don't see how there is any difference between this and bow hunting, maybe it's even a cleaner kill. Anything which makes the hunt more interesting and challenging should appeal to the real outdoorsman ;)
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