Spears for Atlatl throwers
In the Summer of 2015 we had a request for a willow suitable for making spears for throwing with an atlatl or spear thrower. Salix miyabeana is the perfect willow for this purpose as they produce long straight rods of the correct thickness with few branches—these should be trimmed off if they are spotted during the summer months.
This is an ancient technique of increasing the power of spear throwing and was developed when men were hunter-gatherers! Spear throwers have been discovered in France that were 15,000 years old and the oldest in the USA was found in a Nevada cave, its estimated age is 8,000 years old!
For more information see:
Justin Garnett demonstrating the position for throwing the atlatl spear.
Justin is the BasketMakerAtlatl and provided these photos.
More atlatl spear throwers!
WillowWorld
of Michael Dodge