If you've ever wondered exactly what it is that the Mayan Javelin thrower is using to throw those javelins so hard, wonder no more. It's an atlatl- one of these:
My atlatl is the wooden thing resting on top of the painting's frame; two javelins (more properly called darts) are to the left and right. The darts are six feet long and fletched like arrows. Mine have standard 150-grain archery target points; the Maya, Aztecs and countless other civilizations and ancient peoples used bone, flint, chert or obsidian points.
The atlatl itself is basically just a stick with a notch in it. The tail end of the dart has a hollow in it into which the notch is placed, and the atlatl is grasped at the other end and used to throw the dart overhand like a baseball. The atlatl serves as a three-foot extension of your arm, dramatically increasing your leverage. A well-thrown dart has about as much kinetic energy as a .22 LR shot but inflicts more tissue damage, especially if fitted with a heavy broadhead. Can you imagine going out with your friends to kill an elephant-sized mastodon with .22 varmint rifles, especially if you had to aim without sights? That's pretty much what our Neolithic ancestors did for thousands of years with the atlatl, up until and even after the invention of the bow and arrow.
A bow can be aimed better and fired faster and more quietly, and arrows require less effort to make than darts, but the atlatl imparts more kinetic energy. When fighting the conquistadors, the Aztecs actually stopped using bows in favor of the older atlatl, since the heavy darts were able punch through the Spaniards' armor and fell horses easily.
Many modern atlatl enthusiasts use carbon-fiber atlatls and aluminum darts for competitions and for hunting bear, deer, and boar in places where it's legal. In the USA, only Virginia issues atlatl hunting licenses.
Here's another picture, this one of my friend John about to throw it:
One last cool fact- in a bow, energy is stored in the bow when the string is pulled back and released when the bow is fired. In an atlatl, it is the dart itself which flexes, storing the energy of the throw by bending on the upswing and then "leaping" off the end of the atlatl. An atlatl dart in flight looks a little like a fish quickly swimming through a stream, flexing back and forth with sympathetic vibrations but keeping to a straight path.
The "barking" noise that the Mayan Jav Thrower makes in CivIII isn't historically accurate; some atlatls have a barking sound, especially Australian woomeras, but Mesoamericans used bannerstone counterweights that dampened any noise produced by the throw.
Thanks for letting me share. With any luck, the Pennsylvania legislature will pass the pending legislation that will allow atlatlists to hunt during deer season; maybe someday I'll be able to bag a buck the way my great-great-great-etc.-grandparents did.
My atlatl is the wooden thing resting on top of the painting's frame; two javelins (more properly called darts) are to the left and right. The darts are six feet long and fletched like arrows. Mine have standard 150-grain archery target points; the Maya, Aztecs and countless other civilizations and ancient peoples used bone, flint, chert or obsidian points.
The atlatl itself is basically just a stick with a notch in it. The tail end of the dart has a hollow in it into which the notch is placed, and the atlatl is grasped at the other end and used to throw the dart overhand like a baseball. The atlatl serves as a three-foot extension of your arm, dramatically increasing your leverage. A well-thrown dart has about as much kinetic energy as a .22 LR shot but inflicts more tissue damage, especially if fitted with a heavy broadhead. Can you imagine going out with your friends to kill an elephant-sized mastodon with .22 varmint rifles, especially if you had to aim without sights? That's pretty much what our Neolithic ancestors did for thousands of years with the atlatl, up until and even after the invention of the bow and arrow.
A bow can be aimed better and fired faster and more quietly, and arrows require less effort to make than darts, but the atlatl imparts more kinetic energy. When fighting the conquistadors, the Aztecs actually stopped using bows in favor of the older atlatl, since the heavy darts were able punch through the Spaniards' armor and fell horses easily.
Many modern atlatl enthusiasts use carbon-fiber atlatls and aluminum darts for competitions and for hunting bear, deer, and boar in places where it's legal. In the USA, only Virginia issues atlatl hunting licenses.
Here's another picture, this one of my friend John about to throw it:
One last cool fact- in a bow, energy is stored in the bow when the string is pulled back and released when the bow is fired. In an atlatl, it is the dart itself which flexes, storing the energy of the throw by bending on the upswing and then "leaping" off the end of the atlatl. An atlatl dart in flight looks a little like a fish quickly swimming through a stream, flexing back and forth with sympathetic vibrations but keeping to a straight path.
The "barking" noise that the Mayan Jav Thrower makes in CivIII isn't historically accurate; some atlatls have a barking sound, especially Australian woomeras, but Mesoamericans used bannerstone counterweights that dampened any noise produced by the throw.Thanks for letting me share. With any luck, the Pennsylvania legislature will pass the pending legislation that will allow atlatlists to hunt during deer season; maybe someday I'll be able to bag a buck the way my great-great-great-etc.-grandparents did.
