Friends of the MAA Ray Madden, Ron Mertz, and John Whittaker were interviewed for this New York Times story.

This great video by Pascal Chavaux really shows how much a dart flexes:

Nice shot! Nice hat!

For Immediate Release

Jim Gilligan
Michigan Atlatl Association

Chelsea Youth Tops World With Prehistoric Spearthrower

Chelsea, Michigan - 20/3/2010 - Harold Eyster, 15, of Chelsea finished the 2009 atlatl season ranked number 1 in the Youth Division of the World Atlatl Association.

      Atlatls are ancient weapons that preceded the bow and arrow in most parts of the world and are one of humankind's first mechanical inventions. The word atlatl (pronounced at-latal or atal-atal) comes from the Nahuatl language of the Aztec, who were still using them when encountered by the Spanish in the 1500s. Other words include spear-thrower, estolica (Spanish), propulseur (French), speerschleuder (German) and woomera or miru (English versions of the most common Australian terms).

      An atlatl is essentially a stick with a handle on one end and a hook or socket that engages a light spear or “dart” on the other. The flipping motion of the atlatl propels a light spear much faster and farther than it could be thrown by hand alone. In the area now know as Michigan Paleo people used the atlatl to hunt Mastodons and other Megafauna.

      Harold Eyster will be defending his title as World Atlatl Association Youth Champion starting at the atlatl contests to be held on April 11 at the Chelsea Rod & Gun Club, Chelsea, Michigan.

      The Michigan Atlatl Association will be hosting these contests in conjunction with the Michigan Flintknappers Spring Gathering at Chelsea Rod & Gun.

      The Michigan Atlatl Association is an educational organization dedicated to teaching about the ancient atlatl.

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“Erie Ice Daze,”

Saturday, January 16 and Sunday, January 17 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, Marshlands Museum and Nature Center. Winter is only “bad” if you don’t do something “good” with it. Join us in a two-day celebration of good winter fun which combines traditional outdoor activities such as dog sledding, snowsnaking, and atlatl throwing with some comfortable inside crafting, carving demonstrations and live dulcimer music performed by the Silver Strings Dulcimer Society.

..and some Knappers....

Walking snakeheads, carnivorous snails, and the superpredator from the reef: The invasion has begun.
—By Julia Whitty

January/February 2009

Les Gibson takes me out to teach me how to hunt, which is what he calls fishing. Despite the fact that every public beach in Queensland, Australia, has been periodically closed this season due to blooms of box jellyfish, and despite the fearsome saltwater crocodiles living here, Les strides confidently into the bay with a pair of 10-foot-long bamboo spears and his wooden woomera, the multipurpose Aboriginal atlatl, or spear-thrower.

Read the rest of the story on the Mother Jones website here.

© Justin Smith / Wikimedia Commons, CC-By-SA-3.0

Giant Bison Vertebra with Atlatl Point. Cherokee, Oklahoma 4,000 - 3,500 B.C.
Donated by James M. Royer of Roseville, CA

View in large format at WikiCommons here.

Phil and Diane presented the program, "Primitive
Tools and the Early Americans" for the Crossroads
Group of the Sierra Club at the Brighton District
Library last month.

Click on the article in the photo section to the
right to see a larger format copy.

Photo courtesy of WikiCommons.

Note throwing board and compound dart lashed to kayak.

Hello Everyone,

I would like to introduce you to my new web site. www.customatlatlsanddarts.com

I have had this in the works for a couple years now. I've done so much talking about building a web site I decided I better get-r-done. I decided to build the site myself since I couldn't afford some of the quotes I was getting to have someone else do it. So I'm still working to get it right. I have more ideas and as I play here at the computer you'll notice them. Also I plan to build another web site that will deal with hunting with atlatls. Watch for it.

Thank you for looking.

Jack Rowe
www.customatlatlsanddarts.com

Here is a sample of his shop on the site:

Atlatl Ray's Atlatls and Darts AtlatlRay's Shop Announcement An atlatl is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in throwing darts, and includes a bearing surface which allows the user to transfer energy derived from muscular energy during the throw. It consists of a shaft with a handle on one end and a spur or cup on the other, against which the butt of the dart rests. The dart is thrown by the action of the upper arm and wrist in conjunction with a shift of balance of the body. An atlatl can readily cast a well made dart to ranges greater than 100 meters.

In the course of 10 years, I started out with a rigid, hammer grip atlatl but within two years, switched to a flexible, weighted, hammer grip atlatl (which provides greater throwing control and a smoother throwing motion). However, a foolish mistake experimenting with heavier weights gave me a very painful dose of "atlatl elbow" for nine months. Desperate, I switched to a basketmaker grip, flexible, weighted atlatl, and the pain was gone in three days.

The difference between hammer grip and basketmaker grip. Hammer grip provides greater control of elevation, but less control of direction. Basketmaker grip provides greater control of direction, but less control of elevation.

Three years ago, I switched to a single hole, flexible, weighted atlatl. The single hole splits the difference between pure hammer grip and basketmaker, giving me all around better control of elevation and direction. Now when I miss, its pure pilot error.

Dart Rest: A dart rest allows you to use all your fingers and thumb to control the atlatl handle. No need to hold the dart to the atlatl with some fingers before the throw, then have to reset the fingers on the atlatl handle during the throw. With the dart rest, you hold the atlatl, the atlatl holds the dart, and you don't get in each other's way.

Flexible Atlatl Shaft: Think shock absorber. During the throwing motion, the dart is flexing. The atlatl shaft flexes during the throwing motion, preventing an annoying, slightly painful strain that would normally run from your wrist to your elbow. Some people say the flexing atlatl shaft provides more power to the throw. I say the flexing atlatl shaft acts as a shock absorber, providing a smoother throwing motion.

Atlatl Weight: So many theories! Some say the weight provides more velocity, or a stealthy throw, or helps balance the weight of atlatl and dart together so a person can hold same in readiness to throw for long periods of time. I think it has more to do with the advantage of centrifugal force. During the throwing motion the dart is flexing and at the top of the throw, the spur of the atlatl is no longer inside the hole in the back of the dart. The dart is resting on the top side of the spur, connected to the spur only because the atlatl is moving faster than the dart. The atlatl weight, provides enough centrifugal force to counter the forces of the flexing dart, to provide a well controled, smoother throwing motion.

All of the atlatls and darts sold in this shop are handmade.

Here's Tom:

Howdy folks,
 
I've agreed to act as point person for the WAA for the 2009 atlatl event at the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.  I've scoured my contact list for my atlatl friends far and wide and am sending this Email to you for two reasons.  First, it's my evil plan to convince each and every one of you to come attend the event.  Second, in the alternative, I'm hoping to enlist your aid in spreading word about the 2009 event in Nevada.  For those of you who have been to the Valley of Fire, you know the physical beauty fo the place, and you know how special it is to participate in a contest at the foot of "Atlatl Rock."
 
The dates of the event are Friday, March 27, 2009 through Sunday, March 29, 2009.
 
If any of you can help me with a mailing list of other WAA members and atlatl enthusiasts, I'd be in your debt.  I realize that my contact list here is only the tip of a much larger iceberg.  
 
Happy Holidays to all, Merry Christmas, happy New Year, etc.
 
Tom Mills
Pasadena, CA

paleoaleo@yahoo.com

 Imagine participating in an atlatl tournament in the shadow of Atlatl Rock at Valley of Fire State Park!

Here are some random images from previous Turkey Tosses:

Thanks to Bryant Hiiter and Phil Klimowicz, everyone went home with a prize! I did not know Bryant was a fan of Tannu Tuva. He provided us with quite a few official Tannu Tuva postage stamps for prizes.  Phil created a Tannu Tuva panther out of silver! I know Abe won that. What did everyone else win? Let us know in the comments section of this post. I provided some classic atlatl t-shirts and some anthropology books to round out the prizes so everyone went home a winner. Eysters - we were sorry you had to leave early. I've got prizes for you!

We'll see everyone at the Turkey Toss on November 28.

Added Nov. 3, 2008:

Thanks to MichBowGuy, Jamie for putting this slide show and movie of the event together:

On to the Fall Event, aka Tannu Tuva Memorial Fall Fling. What ever happened to Tannu Tuva?

The event will be held at my house located at 7273 Hamburg Rd., Brighton on Saturday, November 1 from noon until 5 p.m.

Bring a dish to pass. Kylie has a severe nut allergy. Please make sure your dish does not contain nuts or nut byproducts. TwinFawns has set up a forum topic here to coordinate who's bringing what. Thanks, TwinFawns! Please RSVP via the poll to the right of this post so we know how many to expect.

We will have an official ISAC at 2 plus a few other targets will be set up. Bring your atlatls and your bows.

There will be a campfire and a knapping pit. The knapping pit will be under cover if the weather is inclement. The Brighton State Recreation Area is across the street with 5000 acres of fields, forests, streams and lakes for those who want to do some exploring by foot, bike, or boat.

While we are all gathered I want to take care of some club business: I want to have a discussion about the future of the MAA. And I want to see how much  interest there is in the idea of hosting the World Atlatl Association Annual Meeting at the Chelsea Rod & Gun Club next July.

I had also hoped to set up a dart making workshop so we could build more darts for the club, but I don't think I'll be able to get that together. The club darts are in pitiful condition.

If we run out of things to do, we can practice our throat singing: