American Scene: Aim, Fire, Thwock!	Volume 54 Number 5, September/October 2001
by Kristin M. Romey

Atlatl devotees show off their stuff.

Wooden atlatls weighted with banner stones hang from a post at the WAA meet. (Kristin M. Romey) [LARGER IMAGE]

Quick: what lethal, mammoth-piercing weapon is displayed in museums around the globe and can be made in your garage for less than 50 bucks? Ask any of the dozens of devotees who have traveled from across the country to southeastern Ohio for the 14th annual meeting of the World Atlatl Association (WAA), an organization that promotes knowledge of the atlatl--a prehistoric wooden weapon that is almost as long as forearm and a bit wider than a ruler--and its use as a modern sporting device.

Kristin M. Romey is managing editor of ARCHAEOLOGY.

For more information on the WAA, visit www.worldatlatl.org.

© 2001 by the Archaeological Institute of America archive.archaeology.org/0109/abstracts/scene.html