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58-400: "Spearthrower Owl" is a name invented by archaeologists to describe the Teotihuacan-originated atlatl -holding owl symbol, stylised as one or two Maya glyphs usually used to represent his name. One version of the ruler's name glyph shows a weapon (an atlatl or other type) combined with an owl sign. At Tikal , the name appears written once with phonetic elements, suggesting the Mayan version of

116-521: 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 C 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

174-410: A centered hole in a symmetrically shaped carved or ground stone, shaped wide and flat with a drilled hole and thus a little like a large wingnut , are an improvement to the design that created a silencing effect when swung. The use of the device would reduce the telltale "zip" of a swung atlatl to a more subtle "woof" sound that did not travel as far and was less likely to alert prey. Robert Berg's theory

232-598: A full vocabulary of spoken language in the way that the writing systems of the Old World or the Maya civilization 's script could. The Spanish introduced the Latin script , which was then used to record a large body of Aztec prose and poetry, which somewhat diminished the devastating loss caused by the burning of thousands of Aztec codices by the Spanish authorities. Nahuatl literature

290-414: A handful of other states list the device as legal for rough fish (those not sought for sport or food), some game birds and non-game mammals. Starting in 2007, Missouri allowed use of the atlatl for hunting wildlife (excluding deer and turkey), and starting in 2010, also allowed deer hunting during the firearms portion of the deer season (except the muzzleloader portion). Starting in 2012, Missouri allowed

348-412: A hole drilled through them. When first found in the nineteenth century, they were interpreted by French archaeologists to be symbols of authority, like a modern field marshal 's baton, and so named bâtons de commandement ("batons of command"). Though debate over their function continues, tests with replicas have found them effective aids to spear or dart throwing when used with a cord,. Another theory

406-450: 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 used by early Americans as well. It may have been introduced to America during the immigration across

464-598: A spear-throwing device. The Swiss arrow is a weapon that works similarly to amentum. Spear-thrower designs may include improvements such as thong loops to fit the fingers, the use of flexible shafts or stone balance weights. Dart shafts can be made thinner and highly flexible for added power and range, the fletching can be spiralized to add spin to the dart making it more stable and accurate. Darts resemble large arrows or small spears and are typically from 1.2 to 2.7 m (4 to 9 ft) in length and 9 to 16 mm (3/8" to 5/8") in diameter. Another important improvement to

522-475: A two-meter long wooden cane with a stone or long and serrated hard-wood point, sometimes tipped with poison. Equipped with their uniquely grooved atlatl, they could hurl their long darts from a great distance with accuracy, speed, and such deadly force that these easily pierced through the protective armor of the Portuguese or any other enemy. The spear-thrower was an important part of life, hunting, and religion in

580-569: A utensil for chopping game. This tool is usually 60 cm (24 in) long and 12 cm (4.7 in) wide, and comes in a concave, elliptical shape. Several Stone Age spear-throwers (usually now incomplete) are decorated with carvings of animals: the British Museum has one decorated with a mammoth , and there is one decorated with a hyena in France. Many pieces of decorated bone may have belonged to bâtons de commandement . The Aztec atlatl

638-409: Is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in dart or javelin -throwing, and includes a bearing surface that allows the user to store energy during the throw. It may consist of a shaft with a cup or a spur at the end that supports and propels the butt of the spear. It's usually about as long as the user's arm or forearm. The user holds the spear-thrower in one hand, gripping near

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696-400: 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

754-500: Is also devoiced and merged into /ʃ/ in syllable-final position. At the time of the Spanish conquest, Aztec writing used mostly pictograms supplemented with a few ideograms . When needed, it also used syllabic equivalences ; Diego Durán recorded how the tlacuilos could render a prayer in Latin using this system but it was difficult to use. The writing system was adequate for keeping such records as genealogies, astronomical information, and tribute lists, but it could not represent

812-572: 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

870-622: 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

928-510: Is extensive (probably the most extensive of all Indigenous languages of the Americas), including a relatively large corpus of poetry (see also Nezahualcoyotl ). The Huei tlamahuiçoltica is an early sample of literary Nahuatl. A bilingual dictionary with Spanish, Vocabulario manual de las lenguas castellana y mexicana , was first published in 1611 and is "the most important and most frequently reprinted Spanish work on Nahuatl," according to

986-479: Is most likely to be more particularly representative of the speech of Aztec nobles ( pīpiltin ), while the commoners ( mācēhualtin ) spoke a somewhat different variety. Stress generally falls on the penultimate syllable. The one exception is the vocative suffix (used by men) -é , which is added to the end of a word and is always stressed, e.g. Cuāuhtli quetz qui (a name, meaning " Eagle Warrior "), but Cuāuhtliquetz qué "O Cuauhtliquetzqui!" When women use

1044-490: Is related to the general discussion of central Mexican influence in the Maya area which was sparked by the findings of Teotihuacan-related objects in the early Maya site of Kaminaljuyú in the 1930s. The controversy has two sides. The ʼʼinternalistʼʼ side argues for limited direct contact between Teotihuacan and the Maya area. This side has been represented by epigraphers such as Linda Schele and David Freidel who have argued that

1102-808: Is still used today by some Aboriginal people for hunting in Australia . Yup'ik Eskimo hunters still use the atlatl, known locally as "nuqaq" (nook-ak), in villages near the mouth of the Yukon River for seal hunting. There are numerous atlatl competitions held every year, with spears and spear-throwers built using both ancient and modern materials. Events are often held at parks, such as Letchworth State Park in New York, Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in Illinois, or Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. Atlatl associations around

1160-538: Is that the bannerstone was carried by hunters as a spindle weight to produce string from natural fibers gathered while hunting, for the purpose of tying on fletching and hafting stone or bone points. The woomera or ‘miru’, allow hunters to apply more force, speed and distance when launching their spears. A woomera is usually made from Mulga wood, and serves many other purposes such as a: receptacle for mixing ochre for traditional paintings for ceremonies, deflection tool of enemies’ spears in battle, fire making saw, or

1218-426: Is that they were "arrow-straighteners". Bian Jian ( Chinese : 鞭箭 , lit. 'Whip arrow') is a unique spear-thrower that was used during Song period. It can be described as a long staff sling that throws a spear-sized dart instead of a rock-like projectile. It requires two operators unlike other spear-throwers. It should not be confused with another Bian Jian ( 邊箭 ). In modern times, some people have resurrected

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1276-637: The Bering Land Bridge , and despite the later introduction of the bow and arrow , atlatl use was widespread at the time of first European contact. Atlatls are represented in the art of multiple pre-Columbian cultures, including the Basketmaker culture in the American Southwest, Maya in the Yucatán Peninsula, and Moche in the Andes of South America. Atlatls were especially prominent in

1334-634: The Ohio Pawpaw Festival , or at the Bois D'Arc Primitive Skills Gathering and Knap-in, held every September in southern Missouri. Atlatl events commonly include the International Standard Accuracy Competition (ISAC), in which contestants throw ten times at a bull's-eye target. Other contests involving different distances or terrain may also be included, usually testing the atlatlist's accuracy rather than distance throwing. In

1392-544: The University of Vermont . Atlatls are sometimes used in modern times for hunting. In the U.S., the Pennsylvania Game Commission has given preliminary approval for legalization of the atlatl for hunting certain animals. The animals that would be allowed to atlatl hunters have yet to be determined, but particular consideration has been given to deer. Currently, Alabama allows the atlatl for deer hunting, while

1450-512: The Uto-Aztecan family . It is classified as a central dialect and is most closely related to the modern dialects of Nahuatl spoken in the valley of Mexico in colonial and modern times. It is probable that the Classical Nahuatl documented by 16th- and 17th-century written sources represents a particularly prestigious sociolect . That is to say, the variety of Nahuatl recorded in these documents

1508-592: The Aztec atlatl were not powerful enough to penetrate Spanish steel plate armor, but they were strong enough to penetrate the mail , leather and cotton armor that most Spanish soldiers wore. Whittaker said the Aztecs started their battles with atlatl darts followed with melee combat using the macuahuitl . Another type of Stone Age artefact that is sometimes excavated is the bâton de commandement . These are shorter, normally less than one foot long, and made of antler, with

1566-453: 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

1624-634: The Maya area in the early classic period and that left an important legacy into the late and epi-classic periods. In 2008 an interpretation of Spearthrower Owl-related iconography at Teotihuacan suggested that Spearthrower Owl was an important military god at Teotihuacan that had his given name to both a place known as "Spearthrower Owl Hill" and to the ruler mentioned in the Maya hieroglyphic texts. Spear-thrower A spear-thrower , spear-throwing lever , or atlatl ( pronounced / ˈ æ t l æ t əl / or / ˈ ɑː t l ɑː t əl / ; Nahuatl ahtlatl [ˈaʔt͡ɬat͡ɬ] )

1682-528: The Maya area surged at Copán and new hieroglyphic decipherments by epigraphers such as David Stuart interpreted Teotihuacan incursion as a military invasion, the externalist position was strengthened. In 2003, George Cowgill , an archaeologist specialising in Teotihuacan who had formerly espoused a mostly internalist perspective on Teotihuacan–Maya relations, summarised the debate, conceding that Teotihuacan had probably exercised some kind of political control in

1740-512: The Maya merely had friendly diplomatic relations with Teotihuacan which caused the Maya elite to emulate Teotihuacano culture and ideology. The ʼʼexternalistʼʼ side argues that Teotihuacan was an important factor in the development of Maya culture and politics in the Classic period. This viewpoint was first associated with archaeologist William Sanders who argued for an extreme externalist viewpoint. But as more evidence of direct Teotihuacan influence in

1798-460: The Tikal ruler Jasaw Chan Kʼawiil I celebrated the thirteen kʼatun (13x20x360 days) anniversary (in 695 CE) of Spearthrower Owlʼs death when they "conjured the holy one." The connection of Spearthrower Owl to Teotihuacan as well as the precise nature of Teotihuacanʼs influence on the Maya has been a hotly debated topic since the hieroglyphic texts first became fully readable in the 1990s. The controversy

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1856-553: 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

1914-418: The arrival of a personage Siyaj Kʼakʼ somehow under the auspices of Spearthrower Owl in the month of January 378. The exact date of his arrival in Tikal is identical with the death of the Tikal ruler, Chak Tok Ichʼaak I . Tikal Stela 31 describes that in 379, a year after the arrival of Siyaj Kʼakʼ at Tikal, Yax Nuun Ahiin , described as a son of Spearthrower Owl and not of the previous ruler Chak Tok Ichʼaak,

1972-547: The arrival of strangers from the west, depicted with Teotihuacan-style garments and carrying weapons. These arrivals are connected to changes in political leadership at several of the sites. Stuart noted that the Marcador monument at the Petén Basin center of Tikal records Spearthrower Owlʼs ascension to the throne of an unspecified polity on a date equivalent to 4 May 374 CE. Monuments at El Perú , Tikal and/or Uaxactun describe

2030-599: The bow and arrow and used it not only in combat but also in sports competitions. Such was the case with the Tarairiú , a Tapuya tribe of migratory foragers and raiders inhabiting the forested mountains and highland savannahs of Rio Grande do Norte in mid-17th-century Brazil. Anthropologist Harald Prins offers the following description: The atlatl, as used by these Tarairiu warriors, was unique in shape. About 88 cm (35 in) long and 3 to 4.5 cm ( 1 + 1 ⁄ 4 to 1 + 3 ⁄ 4  in) wide, this spear thrower

2088-536: 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

2146-631: The dart thrower for sports , often using the term atlatl, throwing either for distance and/or for accuracy. The World Atlatl Association was formed in 1987 to promote the atlatl. Throws of almost 260 m (850 ft) have been recorded. Colleges reported to field teams in this event include Grinnell College in Iowa , Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire , Alfred University in New York , and

2204-399: The end farthest from the cup. The user puts the butt end of the spear, or dart, in the cup, or grabs the spur with the end of the spear. The spear is much longer than the thrower. The user holds the thrower at the grip end, with the spear resting on the thrower and the butt end of the spear resting in the thrower's cup. The user can hold the spear, with the index and thumb, with the same hand as

2262-490: The end of syllables (e.g. str e ngths ) ( ngths = /ŋkθs/ ). Consonant clusters are only allowed word-medially, Nahuatl uses processes of both epenthesis (usually of /i/ ) and deletion to deal with this constraint. For such purposes, tl /tɬ/ , like all other affricates, is treated as a single sound, and not all consonants can occur in both syllable-initial and syllable-final position. The consonants /l/ and /w/ are devoiced in syllable-final position. Likewise, /j/

2320-593: The iconography of the warriors of the Teotihuacan culture of Central Mexico. A ruler from Teotihuacan named Spearthrower Owl is an important figure described in Mayan stelae . Complete wooden spear-throwers have been found on dry sites in the western United States and in waterlogged environments in Florida and Washington . Several Amazonian tribes also used the atlatl for fishing and hunting. Some even preferred this weapon over

2378-485: The length of the lever. This extra length allows the thrower to impart force to the dart over a longer distance, thus imparting more energy and higher speeds. Common modern ball throwers (such as molded plastic arms used for throwing tennis balls for dogs to fetch) use the same principle. A spear-thrower is a long-range weapon and can readily impart to a projectile speeds of over 150 km/h (93 mph). Spear-throwers appear early in human history in several parts of

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2436-432: 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 stone-tipped projectiles from

2494-467: The name is Jatz'om Kuy , "striker owl," or "owl that will strike". The weapon-owl version is therefore probably the logographs for JATZ' together with KUY or KUJ. Various logographs or glyphs depicting an owl and a spear-thrower are documented in Teotihuacan and in the Maya cities of Tikal, Uaxactun , Yaxchilan , and Toniná . They may or may not refer to the same individual, or have other symbolic meanings. Maya inscriptions at several sites describe

2552-501: 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. 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

2610-592: The sixth episode of the fourth season of the television competition Top Shot , the elimination round consisted of two contestants using the atlatl at ranges of 30, 45 and 60 feet. An atlatl was the weapon of choice of a serial killer in the 2020 action-thriller The Silencing , where it is erroneously described as an illegal weapon. Lydia Demarek, a character in the popular fantasy novel series Brotherband , owns and often uses an atlatl. Classical Nahuatl Colonial Nahuatl Classical Nahuatl, also known simply as Aztec or Codical Nahuatl (if it refers to

2668-509: 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

2726-579: The spear-thrower's design was the introduction of a small weight (between 60 and 80 grams) strapped to its midsection. Some atlatlists maintain that stone weights add mass to the shaft of the device, causing resistance to acceleration when swung and resulting in a more forceful and accurate launch of the dart. Others claim that spear-thrower weights add only stability to a cast, resulting in greater accuracy. Based on previous work done by William S. Webb, William R. Perkins claims that spear-thrower weights, commonly called " bannerstones ", and characterized by

2784-415: The thrower, with the other fingers. The user reaches back with the spear pointed at the target. Then they make an overhand throwing motion with the thrower while letting go of the spear with the fingers. The dart is thrown by the action of the upper arm and wrist. The throwing arm together with the atlatl acts as a lever. The spear-thrower is a low-mass, fast-moving extension of the throwing arm, increasing

2842-434: The use of atlatls during the fall archery deer and turkey hunting seasons and, starting in 2014, allowed the use of atlatls during the spring turkey hunting season as well. Missouri also allows use of the atlatl for fishing, with some restrictions (similar to the restrictions for spearfishing and bowfishing ). The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission allows the use of atlatls for the taking of deer as of 2013 . The woomera

2900-727: 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,

2958-676: The variants employed in the Mesoamerican Codices through the medium of Aztec Hieroglyphs ) and Colonial Nahuatl (if written in Post-conquest documents in the Latin Alphabet ), is a set of variants of Nahuatl spoken in the Valley of Mexico and central Mexico as a lingua franca at the time of the 16th-century Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire . During the subsequent centuries, it

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3016-415: The vocative, the stress is shifted to the final syllable without adding any suffix. Oquichtli means "man", and oquichtlí means "O man!" Maximally complex Nahuatl syllables are of the form CVC; that is, there can be at most one consonant at the beginning and end of every syllable. In contrast, English , for example, allows up to three consonants syllable-initially and up to four consonants to occur at

3074-773: The world host a number of local atlatl competitions. Chimney Point State Historic Site in Addison, Vermont hosts the annual Northeast Open Atlatl Championship. In 2009, the Fourteenth Annual Open Atlatl Championship was held on Saturday and Sunday, September 19 and 20. On the Friday before the Championship, a workshop was held to teach modern and traditional techniques of atlatl and dart construction, flint knapping, hafting stone points, and cordage making. Competitions may be held in conjunction with other events, such as

3132-651: The world, and have survived in use in traditional societies until the present day, as well as being revived in recent years for sporting purposes. In the United States, the Nahuatl word atlatl is often used for revived uses of spear-throwers (or the Mayan word hul'che ); in Australia, the Dharug word woomera is used instead. The ancient Greeks and Romans used a leather thong or loop, known as an ankule or amentum , as

3190-442: Was a tapering piece of wood carved of brown hard-wood. Well-polished, it was shaped with a semi-circular outer half and had a deep groove hollowed out to receive the end of the javelin, which could be engaged by a horizontal wooden peg or spur lashed with a cotton thread to the proximal and narrower end of the throwing board, where a few scarlet parrot feathers were tied for decoration. [Their] darts or javelins ... were probably made of

3248-404: Was installed as king of Tikal. His rule saw the introduction of Teotihuacan-style imagery in the iconography of Tikal. Stela 31 was erected during the reign of Yax Nuun Ahiinʼs son Sihyaj Chan Kʼawil and describes the death of that rulerʼs grandfather, Spearthrower Owl, in 439 CE (Maya date 9.0.3.9.18). Spearthrower Owl was mentioned in later texts; for example, on a door lintel of Temple I where

3306-521: Was largely displaced by Spanish and evolved into some of the modern Nahuan languages in use today (other modern dialects descend more directly from other 16th-century variants). Although classified as an extinct language , Classical Nahuatl has survived through a multitude of written sources transcribed by Nahua peoples and Spaniards in the Latin script. Classical Nahuatl is one of the Nahuan languages within

3364-494: Was often decorated with snake designs and feathers, potentially evocative of its association with Ehecatl , the Aztec wind deity. Wooden darts were known at least since the Middle Paleolithic ( Schöningen , Torralba , Clacton-on-Sea and Kalambo Falls ). 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

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