Atlatl experiment on the Kent Campus with Bob Berg of Thunderbird Atlatl. Michelle Bebber is holding the radar gun. Credit: Metin Eren
Key point:
- A new study shows a special weapon helped equalize the division of labor in prehistoric times.
- The atlatl allowed women to hunt as well as, if not better, than males of the time.
- Even today, women tend to adapt to using the weapon quicker than males, according to researcher observations.
A new study supports the idea that prehistoric women had an active role in hunting—thanks to a weapon known as an atlatl.
The atlatl is a handheld, rod-shaped device that employs leverage to launch a dart, and represents a major human technological innovation used in hunting and warfare since the Stone Age. Where the first javelins are at least hundreds of thousands of years old; the first atlatls are likely at least tens of thousands of years old.
“One hypothesis for forager atlatl adoption over its presumed predecessor, the thrown javelin, is that a diverse array of people could achieve equal performance results, thereby facilitating inclusive participation of more people in hunting activities,” said study author Michelle Bebber, an assistant professor at Kent State University.
Bebber’s study tested this hypothesis via a systematic assessment of 2,160 weapon launch events by 108 people, all novices—many of which were Kent State students—who used both javelins and atlatls.
The study results, published in Scientific Reports, are consistent with the supposition, showing that the atlatl not only increases the velocity of projectile weapons relative to thrown javelins, but that the atlatl equalizes the velocity of female- and male-launched projectiles.
“This result indicates that a javelin to atlatl transition would have promoted a unification, rather than division, of labor,” Bebber said. “Our results suggest that female and male interments with atlatl weaponry should be interpreted similarly, and in some archaeological contexts females could have been the atlatl’s inventor.”
Since 2019, every semester Bebber takes her class outside to use the atlatl. She noticed that females picked it up very easily and could launch darts as far as the males with little effort.
“Often males became frustrated because they were trying too hard and attempting to use their strength to launch the darts,” Bebber said. “However, since the atlatl functions as a simple lever, it reduces the advantage of male’s generally greater muscle strength.”