This page is part of the official ARCHIVE COPY of the pioneering but abandoned Thrower website on knife throwing. Copyright and details |
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 1996 17:40:16 -0600 (MDT)
There have been some recent questions on atlatl and dart design. I've found
some interesting information in some books and thought I'd mention it here.
Kurt Saxon's _The Weaponeer_ included a short article on throwing sticks
to be used with *arrows*. These throwing sticks used a peg to engage the
nock on the back of the arrow. The article was taken from an old _Popular
Mechanics_ or some similar magazine, if I remember right.
_Outdoor Survival Skills_ is an excellent book by Larry Dean Olsen which
tells how to survive in the wilds with Stone Age technology. This includes
the atlatl. He tells how to make one and use it. Photos show a student
launching a dart that's about 6' in length. The book also tells how to
knap flint for the points and how to make a primitive bow and arrows.
_Weapons_, by The Diagram Group, shows examples of many types of weapons,
including two atlatls. One is a woomera from Australia, and the other is
made from one piece of carved bone and is from prehistoric France. Another
cool weapon shown is the Japanese uchi-ne, a feathered fighting dart that's
between 30 and 40cm. in length. There is a whole chapter on hand-thrown
missle weapons, including slings, clubs, boomerangs, edged weapons and
spears. Although the treatment is fairly simple, this book will probably
be fascinating to anyone interested in "primitive" arms. Many public
libraries have it.
_Warfare in the Classical World: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Weapons,
Warriors and Warfare in the Ancient Civilizations of Greece and Rome_ is
a wonderful book which includes many full-color illustrations of "grunts"
in the ancient world. It also deals with battles, campaigns, strategies
and tactics. One of the most interesting entries shows the likely outcome
of a phalanx vs. a Roman unit using the pilum, or throwing spear to break
up the phalanx. Another illo shows the evolution of the Roman throwing
spear, from the heavy pilum to the plumbata, a throwing dart with an egg-
shaped weight to aid its penetration. One contemporary source credits the
plumbata with having the best range of all hand-thrown spears of its day.
John Warry is the author, and it was pubished by the University of
Oklahoma Press.
Melvyn Marlo Brown
From: Marlo Brown (marlo@lib.nmsu.edu)
To: thrower@dfw.net
Subject: books with atlatl/spear/dart information
Reference Librarian, Branson Library
New Mexico State University
Mail to mjr, goto
Atlatl, or
Survival, or back to
Thrower
This page is part of the official ARCHIVE COPY of the pioneering but abandoned Thrower website on knife throwing. Copyright and details