Abstract
The European Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic have produced numerous series of projectile points that are highly variable in both morphology and raw material. The function of these objects has been suggested by ethnographic comparisons; archaeological context of certain discoveries; study of fracture patterns; and experimental reconstructions. These armatures indicate extremely elaborate and diverse hafting techniques. Unfortunately, with the exception of a few Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic examples that have survived in the special preservational circumstances offered by wet environments, the shafts to which the projectile points were attached no longer exist. However, the morphometry of most of the points suggests, beginning at least with the Gravettian, attachment to relatively light shafts such as those that are propelled with the aid of a spearthrower or a bow.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Basedow, H., 1907, Anthropological Notes on the Western Coastal Tribes of the Northern Territory of South Australia. Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia XXXI: 1–62
Bassett-Smith, P. W, 1894, The Aborigines of North-west Australia. Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great-Britain and Ireland XIII:324–331, pl.XVIII-XIX.
Beckhoff, K., 1968, Eignung und Verwendung einheimischer Holzarten für prähistorische Pfeilbogen. Die Kunde, N.J., 19.
Bellier, C., and Cattelain, P., 1990, La Chasse dans la Préhistoire du Paléolithique au Néolithique en Europe. CEDARC., Treignes, Belgium.
Bennett, M. M., 1927, Notes on the Dallebura Tribe of Northern Queensland. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great-Britain and Ireland LVI1:399–415, pl. XXII-XXIII.
Brézillon, M., 1969, Dictionnaire de la Préhistoire. Larousse, Paris.
Brough-Smith, R., 1878, The Aborigines of Victoria: With Notes Relating to the Habits of the Natives of Other Parts of Australia and Tasmania. Volume 1. J. Ferres, Melbourne.
Burov, G. M., 1980, Der Bogen bei den mesolithischen Stämmen Nordosteuropas. Mesolithikum in Europa, Internationales Symposium Potsdam, April 1978. Veröffentlichungen des Museumsfür Ur-und Frühgeschichte Potsdam 14-15:373–388.
Cattelain, P., 1986, Traces Macroscopiques d’Utilisation sur les Propulseurs Paléolithiques. Helinium XXVI: 193–205.
Cattelain, P., 1988, Fiches Typologiques de l’Industrie de l’Os Préhistorique. Cahier II: Propulseurs. Université de Provence, Aix-en-Provence.
Cattelain, P., 1989, Un Crochet de Propulseur Solutréen de la Grotte de Combe-Saunière I (Dordogne). Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française 86:213–216.
Cattelain, P., 1991, Les Propulseurs Paléolithiques: Utilisation et Traces d’Utilisation. Archéologie Expérimentale, Tome 2-La Terre. Actes du Colloque International “Expérimentation en Archéologie: Bilan et Perspectives,” pp. 74-81. Archéodrome de Beaune, 1988. Errance, Paris.
Cattelain, P., and Perpère, M., 1993a, Quand les Préhistoriens Vont à la Chasse... Musée-Homme, 1er trimestre 1993:51–54.
Cattelain, P., and Perpère, M., 1993b, Tir Expérimental de Sagaies et de Flèches Emmanchées de Pointes de la Gravette. Archéo-Situla 17-20:3–25.
Cattelain, P., and Perpère, M., 1994, Tir Expérimental de Sagaies et de Flèches Emmanchées de Pointes de la Gravette. Actes du Colloque International “Les sites de Reconstitutions Archéologiques”, Archéosite d’Aubechies-Beloeil. September 1993:94–100.
Cattelain, P., and Stodiek, U., 1996, Propulseurs Paléolithiques Inédits ou Mal Connus. La Vie Préhistorique, pp. 76-79. Editions Faton, Dijon.
Clement, E., 1904, Ethnographical Notes on the Western-Australian Aborigines. Internationales Archiv für Ethnographic XVI: 1–16.
Cundy, B. J., 1989, Formal Variation in Australian Spear and Spearthrower Technology. BAR International Series 546. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.
Davidson, D. S., 1934, Australian Spear-traits and Their Derivations. Journal of the Polynesian Society 43:41–72, 143-162.
Davidson, D. S., 1936, The Spearthrower in Australia. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 76:445–483.
Eylmann, E., 1908, Die Eingeborenen der Kolonie Südaustralien. D. Reiner, Berlin.
Eyre, E. J., 1845, Journals of the Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia and Overland from Adelaide to King Georges Sound in the Years 1840–1841. T. and W. Boone, London.
Fischer, A., 1985, Pa jagt med stenalder-vaben. Historisk-Arkaeologisk Forsogscenter, Lejre.
Geneste, J.-M., and Plisson, H., 1986, Le Solutréen de la Grotte Combe-Saunière, Première Approche Palethnologique. Gallia Préhistoire 29:9–27.
Geneste, J.-M, and Plisson, H., 1990, Technologie Fonctionnelle des Pointes à Cran Solutréennes: Lapport de Nouvelles Données de la Grotte de Combe Saunière (Dordogne). In Feuilles de Pierre: Les Industries à Pointes Foliacées du Paléolithique Supérieur Européen, Actes du Colloque de Cracovie 1989, edited by J. K. Kozlowski, pp. 293-232. Etudes et Recherches Archéologiques de l’Université de Liège No. 42, Liège.
Hale, H. M., and Tindale, N. B., 1933–1936, Aborigines of Princess Charlotte Bay, North Queensland. Records of the South Australian Museum V:63–116, 117-172.
Hamilton, T. M., 1982, Native American Bows. Missouri Archaeological Society Special Publication No. 5, Columbia.
Hamm, J., 1989, Bows and Arrows of Native Americans. Lyons and Burford, New York.
Hardy, R., 1992, Longbow: A Social and Military History. Bois d’Arc Press, London.
Heath, E. G., and Chiara, V, 1977, Brazilian Indian Archery. Simon Archery Foundation, Manchester.
Lecaille, J.-M., and Menu, J.-P, 1985, La Chasse à l’Arc. Gerfaut Club, Paris.
Mason, O. T., 1893 (1972), North American Bows, Arrows and Quivers. C. J. Pugliese, Yonkers, New York.
Mathews, R. H., 1900–1901, Ethnological Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of the Northern Territory. Queensland Geographical Journal XVI:69–90.
Morel, P., 1993, Impacts de Projectile sur le Gibier: Quelques Eléments d’une Approche Expérimentale. In Traces et Fonction: Les Gestes Retrouvés, Volume 1, edited by P. Anderson, S. Beyries, M. Otte, and H. Plisson, pp. 50-57. Études et Recherches Archéologiques de l’Université de Liége, Liége.
Moss, E. H., and Newcomer, M. H., 1982, Reconstruction of Tool Use at Pincevent: Microwear and Experiments. Studia Praehistorica Belgica 2:289–312.
Nelson, E. W., 1899, The Eskimo about the Bering Strait. Eighteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1896–1897. Washington, D.C.
Orliac, M., 1988, Arc. In Dictionnaire de la Préhistoire, edited by A. Leroi-Gourhan, p. 56. P. U. F, Paris.
Palmer, E., 1884, Notes on Some Australian Tribes. Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great-Britain and Ireland XII:276–347.
Patou, M., 1987, Un des Derniers Peuples Chasseurs. Les Bushmen, Derniers Chasseurs-Ceuilleurs. Dossiers Histoire et Archéologie No. 115:38–49.
Perpère, M., 1997, Les Pointes de la Gravette de la Couche 5 de l’Abri Pataud: Réflexions sur les Armes de Pierre dans les Outillages Périgordiens. In Colloques International: La Chasse dans la Préhistoire, Treignes, 1990. Artefacts 8:9-15. Etudes et Recherches Archéologiques de l’Université de Liège 51. Université de Liège, Liège. In press.
Petersen, H. C., 1986, Skinboats of Greenland: Ships and Boats of the North, Volume 1, pp. 69–97. National Museum of Denmark, Roskilde.
Pétrequin, P., and Pétrequin, A.-M., 1990, Flèches de Chasse, Flèches de Guerre. Le Cas des Danis d’Irian Jaya (Indonésie). Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française 87:484–511.
Pope, S. T., 1923, A Study of Bows and Arrows. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 13(9).
Pope, S. T., 1925 (1991), Hunting with the Bow and Arrow. Wolfe Publishing Company, Prescott.
Plisson, H., and Geneste, J.-M., 1989, Analyse Technologique des Pointes à Cran Solutréennes du Placard (Charente), du Fourneau de Diable, du Pech de la Boissière et de Combe-Saunière (Dordogne). Paléo 1:65–106.
Roth, R., 1992, Histoire de VArcherie. Arc et Arbalète. Max Chaleil, Montpellier.
Roth, W. E., 1901, North Queensland Ethnography. Bulletin 3. Food: Us Search, Capture, and Preparation. A. Vaughan, Brisbane.
Roth, W. E., 1909, North Queensland Ethnography, Bulletin 13. Fighting weapons. Records of the South Australian Museum VII: 189–211, p. LVIII-LXI.
Rousselot, J.-L., 1983, Die Ausrüstung zur Seejagd der Westlichen Eskimo, Untersucht in Ihrem Kulturellen Kontext. Münchner Beiträge zur Amerikanistik 11:71–141.
Rozoy, J.-G., 1978, Les Derniers Chasseurs. L’Epipaléolithique en France et en Belgique. Essai de Synthèse. Bulletin de la Société Archéologique Champenoise, no. spécial.
Rozoy, J.-G., 1992, Le Propulseur et l’Arc. Chez les Chasseurs Préhistoriques. Techniques et Démographie Comparées. Paléo 4:175–192.
Rust, A., 1943, Die alt-und mittelmesolitischen Funde von Stellmoor. Archaeologisches Institut de deutschen Reiches, Neumünster.
Schmeltz, J. D. E., 1904, Descriptive Catalogue of a Collection of Ethnographical Objects from the Northern Part of Western Australia in the “Rijks Ethnographisch Museum” at Leiden. Internationales Archiv für Ethnographie XVI: 17–29.
Spencer, B., 1914, Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia. Macmillan and Company, London.
Spencer, B., and Gillen, E J., 1899, The Native Tribes of Central Australia. Macmillan and Company, London.
Stodiek, U., 1988, Zur Schäftungsweise Jungpaläolithischer Speerschleudern. Archäologische Korrespondenzblatt 18(4):323–327.
Stodiek, U., 1990, Jungpaläolithische Speerschleudern und Speere-ein Rekonstrucktionsver-such. Experimentelle Archäologie in Deutschland. Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Nordwestdeutschland 4:287–297.
Stodiek, U., 1992, A Propos de l’Emmanchement des Propulseurs au Paléolithique Supérieur. Le Peuplement Magdalénien, Paléogéographie Physique et Humaine. Colloque de Chancelade, October 1988, pp. 317-331.
Stodiek, U., 1993, Zur Technologie der jungpalaolitischen Speerschleuder. Eine Studie auf der Basis archäologischer, ethnologischer und experimenteller Erkenntnisse. Tübinger Monographien zur Urgeschichte 9.
Taplin, G., 1879, The Folklore, Manners, Customs, and Languages of the South Australian Aborigines. E. Spiller, Adelaide.
Tindale, N. B., 1928, Natives of Groote Eylandt and of the West Coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Records of the South Australian Museum 111:61–134.
Warner, W. L., 1937, A Black Civilization: A Social Study of an Australian Tribe. Revised edition, 1958. Harper and Brothers, Chicago.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cattelain, P. (1997). Hunting during the Upper Paleolithic: Bow, Spearthrower, or Both?. In: Knecht, H. (eds) Projectile Technology. Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1851-2_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1851-2_9
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-1853-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-1851-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive