I made one many years ago, early on in high school. I got the idea from reading a couple books in the Clan of the Cave Bear series. I just used my dad’s aluminum arrows that he had laying around for my “spears”. I made the thrower from a 2 1/2 to 3′ length of maple branch that included a portion of where the fork branched. The fork acted as the back of the thrower where the back of the arrow fit in. I could get pretty good distance out of it, and it was far from a quality piece. A kid in my World History class brought in one that was probably made by somebody that actually knew what they were doing, and the spears for it were approximately 5-6 feet long, with the thrower about 2 1/2 feet long. It was far superior to the one I built out of a stick and some aluminum arrows, but I liked mine better because I built it. I have actually been considering the idea of building another one, though a little better than my last attempt.

Michael

One episode of the show “Weapon Masters” (I believe it’s a production of the Discovery channel) dealt with the atlatl. I found it amusing and very informative. I know at least parts of it can be viewed on the web. (Not a plug, just an opinion.)

I have messed around with them a little bit. They are a lot of fun to play with:D

Chuckalissa indiam village in Memphis,TN has a open house for kids every Oct. and I got to see them demonstrate how one works. They were pretty good with them. They are from the Chickasaw tribe.:lol: