"Looking for reference pics of European Atl Atls" Topic

(Cacique Caribe, this is aimed mostly at you!!)

My flint-tipped spears have been my best selling bit so far, (I'm almost out of them and need to have more cast!). I'd like to do a set of two atl atls on a sprue to complement them.

I've done a little bit of reading on the subject, and apparently there is a significant difference between ancient European atl atls and North American (specifically mesoamerican) – BUT, I can't find any pictures showing the two different types in comparison. I was hoping there's be some sort of "International Atl Atl Re-enactment Society", but no luck there (seriously, my Google-fu has failed me. Yeah. I just used "Google-fu" in a sentence.)

So, can anyone here reccomend a good site (or book) with lots of pictures of atl atl's, showing differences in type and size/usage?

I really only need a couple of reference pics of paleolithic era European style atl atls, but I'd be willing to buy a book. The more reference pics I can get, the better!

Thanks, any help or reccomendations are appreciated!

-Alex

>>> I was hoping there's be some sort of "International Atl Atl Re-enactment Society"…

There is!

worldatlatl.org

Some Magdalenian ones here:

link

More here:

link

Check out their links, too. One won't take you directly here (it goes to his modern competition rules page instead), but the main page is:

paleosite.free.fr

Not too much on the Palaeolithic spear throwers that you won't have seen, but interesting nonetheless.

Allen

Very nice Allen!

Here's an earlier thread on this:

TMP link

Good explanation here on the weapon:

donsmaps.com/atlatl.html

I'll see if I can find additional info when time permits.

Dan
PS. Some of these videos might be useful for additional inspiration:
TMP link

Those "Upper Paleolithic" atlatls in the first link are beautiful.

Alex, be careful where you point that thing!

I may have to rethink this – apparently, atlatls (pronounced "atla-tal") are not used to throw spears, they're used to cast darts, which are springy and much more like a javelin or oversized arrow than a rigid spear. Spears can be cast from an atlatl, but they are too rigid and tend to get jerked downwards by the casting surface, whicn negatively affects their accuracy by a significant ammount.

Darts, on the other hand, are light and springy and literally jump off of the atlatl when the arc of the thrower's arm reaches the optimim point. I didn't know that till I started reading… (and thanks very much for the links, Allen!)

Perhaps I'll do a sprue with two darts and two atlatls on it?

-Alex

Cheers, Alex!

Allen

I had the 'pleasure' in trying an Atl-Atl at Flag Fen flagfen.com near Peterborough link

First thing that stuck me was how light it was
Second thing was the length – over 5 feet
Third thing was how hard they are to throw – first one went 4 feet, second one was further but I let go of the launcher and it went further than the dart The third one got close to the target but over it.

From what I can gather, the folks believe one atl atl per person was used but they would carry multiple darts

Andrew
blog.kings-sleep.me.uk