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atlatlSYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: atl-atl, spear thrower
CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A New World version of a spear-throwing device, used by the Aztecs and other peoples of the Americas. It consisted of a wooden shaft used to propel a spear or dart and it functioned like an extension of the arm, providing more thrusting leverage. Atlatl weights are objects of stone fastened to the throwing stick for added weight. These may be perforated so that the stick passes through the artifact, or they may be grooved for lashing to the stick. In western North America it was the main hunting weapon from about 6500 BC till 500 AD.atlatl weightCATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: Drilled or grooved stone or shell that was used to weight the atlatl
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KosterCATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: A site of long occupation in west-central Illinois, known as one of the first multidisciplinary endeavors of new archaeology; the findings serve as a benchmark for defining the Archaic period in the Midwest. The site is unusual for its long stratigraphic sequence of Archaic and Woodland settlements, dating from c 8700 bp to 1000 AD. Hunter-gathers and, later, farmers, settled at this location on the Illinois River to exploit the fertile river bottom. The site served variously as a workshop for stone tools, a deer-butchering camp, and possibly as the site for one of the earliest villages in North America. Stoneground adzes, manos and metates are dated c 6400 BC. In later levels, there is evidence of increased hunting efficiency (the replacement of the atlatl by the bow and arrow) and of agriculture (squash and pumpkin), and possibly Mississippian association. The site also contributed to the methodology of excavation, including approaches to deeply buried sites, and the use of flotation as a technique.Lamoka cultureCATEGORY: culture; site
DEFINITION: An inland site of the late Archaic period located in the Finger Lakes region of central New York dating c 2500-1800 BC. It is characterized by narrow-stemmed points of a type usually associated with coastal areas and by a well-developed industry in worked bone. Other traits include houses framed with upright poles, beveled adzes, atlatl weights, manos and metates, and fishing gear.NáhuatlCATEGORY: language
DEFINITION: A Uto-Aztecan language; the language spoken by the Aztecs and many other Mexican tribes. Related languages are disturbed sporadically from the northwestern United States to Panama. Still widely spoken in the Basin of Mexico, it is the source of a number of words current in the English language, such as tomato and chocolate. It is also the source of the widely used New World term for spear thrower, atlatl. Groups speaking Nahuatl migrated into Mesoamerica from its northern frontier, Gran Chichimec.Old Copper CultureCATEGORY: culture
DEFINITION: A series of late Archaic complexes in the upper Great Lakes area of the United States and Canada which settled there approximately 5,000 years ago. This culture of hunters and fishermen did not have pottery and agriculture, but the people mined native copper around Lake Superior and used it to make tools. The metal was worked by hot- and cold-hammering and by annealing. Characteristic copper implements were spear points, knives, awls, and atlatl weights. Its best-known assemblages are from Osceola and Ocanto. Later cultures did not develop metal technology, but reverted to stone use. There is general agreement that 1500 BC represents the terminal date.bannerstoneSYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: banner stone, birdstone, boatstone
CATEGORY: artifact; lithics
DEFINITION: A stone atlatl - a throwing-stick weight - put on the shaft to give great propulsion to a thrown dart. The stone is perforated for hafting and often has a bipennate, 'butterfly', or banner-like appearance.birdstoneSYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: bird-stone, bannerstone, boatstone
CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A class of prehistoric stone objects of undetermined purpose, usually resembling or shaped line a bird; carved bird effigies. These polished stone weights occurred in the cultures of the Archaic tradition (8000-1000 BC) and later cultures in the Eastern Woodlands of North America. They were probably attached to throwing sticks or atlatls to add weight and leverage.boatstoneSYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: (see bannerstone, birdstone)
CATEGORY: lithics
DEFINITION: A boat-shaped stone atlatl - a throwing-stick weight - put on the shaft to give great propulsion to a thrown dart. Unlike the bannerstone, it was apparently lashed to the stick shaft.bowtieCATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: An atlatl in the shape of a bow tiedartCATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A projectile point hafted to a shaft that utilized a throwing stick or atlatl or blowgun.spear-throwerSYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: spear thrower, spearthrower, throwing stick, atlatl, woomera
CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A device which increases the power with which a spear can be hurled; a long stick with a hooked end which holds the butt of a spear. The implement usually has finger grips at one end. The device thus becomes an artificial extension of the thrower's arm, giving him increased leverage and range and allowing the thrower to hurl a spear accurately a much greater distance than he could by unaided hand. Spear throwers were used in Europe during the Palaeolithic and throughout the New World in pre-Columbian times, where they were known as atlatls. Spear throwers made of reindeer antler are characteristic of the Magdalenian period in Europe. Similar devices were used in the Arctic, and in Australia, where they are often called woomeras.whaletailCATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: An atlatl in the shape of a whale's tail
