Throwing Stick to Spear Thrower - Study of Ethnographic Artefacts and Experimentation

Little is known about the process of the invention of the prehistoric spear thrower which appeared around 25,000 years ago in Europe, although it may have emerged earlier on other continents. This innovative weapon had a late arrival in Australia from Papua New Guinea at the end of the late glacial...

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Autor principal:	Luc Bordes
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	EXARC 2020
Materias:	throwing stick weapon spear palaeolithic mesolithic neolithic chalcolithic australia Museums. Collectors and collecting AM1-501 Archaeology CC1-960
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/187d8620c27c400cbc3fdcca0613f53d
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:187d8620c27c400cbc3fdcca0613f53d2021-12-01T14:42:34ZThrowing Stick to Spear Thrower - Study of Ethnographic Artefacts and Experimentation2212-8956https://doaj.org/article/187d8620c27c400cbc3fdcca0613f53d2020-05-01T00:00:00Zhttps://exarc.net/ark:/88735/10503https://doaj.org/toc/2212-8956Little is known about the process of the invention of the prehistoric spear thrower which appeared around 25,000 years ago in Europe, although it may have emerged earlier on other continents. This innovative weapon had a late arrival in Australia from Papua New Guinea at the end of the late glacial maximum, and probably induced an adaptation in hand throwing spear technology used by local people. But could the spear thrower have also originated independently from older prehistoric technology on this continent? In this work, the hypothesis of a technological evolution from throwing sticks to the spear thrower is examined through several particular wooden Australian Aboriginal implements observed in ethnographic collections. Indeed, some traditional Aboriginal hooked throwing sticks from Coopers Creek might be a trace of a prehistoric throwing stick/spear thrower technological complex which has disappeared to be replaced by true specialised spear throwers from New Guinea, rendering them obsolete. Interestingly, other intersections between these two weapons could be found in the particular type of “on edge” built Aboriginal spear throwers from Northern Queensland where rare examples of spear throwers made from modified throwing sticks can also be found. Do they result from an adaptation of throwing sticks in contact with spear thrower importations from New Guinea or do they reflect the continuity of an older, independent Indigenous Australian spear thrower invention? Experimental replicas and throwing tests have been used here to try to shed light on the potential and limits of such implements which could have been used simultaneously for both functions.Luc BordesEXARCarticlethrowing stickweaponthrowing stickspearpalaeolithicmesolithicneolithicchalcolithicaustraliaMuseums. Collectors and collectingAM1-501ArchaeologyCC1-960ENEXARC Journal, Iss 2020/2 (2020)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	throwing stick weapon throwing stick spear palaeolithic mesolithic neolithic chalcolithic australia Museums. Collectors and collecting AM1-501 Archaeology CC1-960
spellingShingle	throwing stick weapon throwing stick spear palaeolithic mesolithic neolithic chalcolithic australia Museums. Collectors and collecting AM1-501 Archaeology CC1-960 Luc Bordes Throwing Stick to Spear Thrower - Study of Ethnographic Artefacts and Experimentation
description	Little is known about the process of the invention of the prehistoric spear thrower which appeared around 25,000 years ago in Europe, although it may have emerged earlier on other continents. This innovative weapon had a late arrival in Australia from Papua New Guinea at the end of the late glacial maximum, and probably induced an adaptation in hand throwing spear technology used by local people. But could the spear thrower have also originated independently from older prehistoric technology on this continent? In this work, the hypothesis of a technological evolution from throwing sticks to the spear thrower is examined through several particular wooden Australian Aboriginal implements observed in ethnographic collections. Indeed, some traditional Aboriginal hooked throwing sticks from Coopers Creek might be a trace of a prehistoric throwing stick/spear thrower technological complex which has disappeared to be replaced by true specialised spear throwers from New Guinea, rendering them obsolete. Interestingly, other intersections between these two weapons could be found in the particular type of “on edge” built Aboriginal spear throwers from Northern Queensland where rare examples of spear throwers made from modified throwing sticks can also be found. Do they result from an adaptation of throwing sticks in contact with spear thrower importations from New Guinea or do they reflect the continuity of an older, independent Indigenous Australian spear thrower invention? Experimental replicas and throwing tests have been used here to try to shed light on the potential and limits of such implements which could have been used simultaneously for both functions.
format	article
author	Luc Bordes
author_facet	Luc Bordes
author_sort	Luc Bordes
title	Throwing Stick to Spear Thrower - Study of Ethnographic Artefacts and Experimentation
title_short	Throwing Stick to Spear Thrower - Study of Ethnographic Artefacts and Experimentation
title_full	Throwing Stick to Spear Thrower - Study of Ethnographic Artefacts and Experimentation
title_fullStr	Throwing Stick to Spear Thrower - Study of Ethnographic Artefacts and Experimentation
title_full_unstemmed	Throwing Stick to Spear Thrower - Study of Ethnographic Artefacts and Experimentation
title_sort	throwing stick to spear thrower - study of ethnographic artefacts and experimentation
publisher	EXARC
publishDate	2020
url	https://doaj.org/article/187d8620c27c400cbc3fdcca0613f53d
work_keys_str_mv	AT lucbordes throwingsticktospearthrowerstudyofethnographicartefactsandexperimentation
_version_	1718404856683692032

Throwing Stick to Spear Thrower - Study of Ethnographic Artefacts and Experimentation

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