April 17, 2008
Spear Throwing is a Feminist Activity
Here's an interesting article at The Economist about how the practice of throwing the atlatl (spear) is actually a feminist ideal as the science behind it allows people to throw spears with amazing force without needing lots of body mass or muscle.
Anyone know of any characters from literature that are spear throwers? Most of the books I read use spear throwers as cannon fodder.
Posted by John on April 17, 2008 01:36 PM | Posted to HistoryShare:
You'd probably have to look to books based on "prehistorical" situations for the majority of those types of characters. Once you get a bow and arrow tech going, it tends to be a little more user-friendly than spear throwing at that kind of distance.
We used to have atlatl competitions at one of the archaeology/anthropology labs I worked for in my undergrad days. It's HARD to use an atlatl with any accuracy, FYI.
Just ask the drivers going past us at the U of Manitoba summer of 2001 or so ;)
Posted by: Sara J. on April 17, 2008 11:06 PMI think that a spear thrower, male or female, it will be an interesting one. I would be interested on such a read.
Posted by: Dark Wolf on April 18, 2008 03:24 AMAyla and Jondalar of the Earth's Children Series used one in The Mammoth Hunters and part of The Valley of Horses. Jean M. Auel goes into great detail about how they're used and how far and powerful they can be. Excellent books all around.
Posted by: Melissa on April 18, 2008 10:30 AMTrackBack URL for this entry:
http://covblogs.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/12006
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Spear Throwing is a Feminist Activity:
