unting, defense, aggression, sport: Whether for survival or cultural activities, humans and their ancestors have been using weapons for thousands of years. Perhaps the earliest weapons used by humans were bone, teeth and nails - termed the osteodontokeratic tradition by some early anthropologists. Rocks, fire, and wooden clubs would have been natural early weapons; later, humans would learn to sharpen sticks and from there would continue to invent more complex weapons. When the earliest humans arrived in the Intermountain West about 12,000 years ago, they traveled in nomadic groups, gathering plant foods and catching small animals such as rabbits, lizards, and birds. But they also hunted the great Ice Age mammals such as mammoths and nowextinct bison using spears tipped with stone points (spearheads) and atlatls. Some have speculated that the atlatl - an efficient weapon that had also been developed in Europe by the Cro-Magnon peoples contributed to the extinction of the Ice Age mammals. This weapon, a combination of throwing stick and projectile, enabled a hunter to throw a spear much farther and more powerfully than he could by hand alone. In fact, it increased the spear's velocity sevenfold. A hunter using an atlatl would hold the throwing stick in one hand and, with the other hand, would stabilize a spear or dart cradled in the throwing stick. Then with a powerful hurling motion he or she would release the spear. The Anasazi and Fremont cultures arose around 2,000 years ago, the Anasazi in the Four Corners area and the Fremont in central and northern Utah. These cultures also used atlatls. In addition, they used spears, nets, rock-fall traps, and throwing sticks for hunting. They made
H
snares from plant fibers such as yucca and from human hair. Their throwing sticks, similar to boomerangs but with a greater angle at the bend, were used for hunting small animals. Using the resources at hand, they also made weapons from bone and rock. In about 500 A.D. the Fremont began to use the bow and arrow. According to Don Burge, director of the Prehistoric Museum in Price, the bow and arrow has been the most widely used weapon in recorded history. And no wonder. This weapon provided more accuracy than the atlatl, and it was easier t o carry and use. So it increased the efficiency of hunters in obtaining both food and raw materials such as bone, sinew and hide. It took a fairly complex process to make a bow. In one method, the bow-maker cut a 6-foot-by-8inch section of wood from a tree and pried it loose with antler and stone wedges. The wood would season for six months. Alternately, the bow-maker might cut the section of wood but leave it in the tree to dry for some months, a method that kept the wood from warping. After the wood had seasoned, the bow-maker would carve it into a 3- or 4-foot-long bow using stone tools. Chokecherry and mountain mahogany worked best for bows. Juniper (cedar) and serviceberry also worked, but because juniper wood gets brittle quickly, it needs replacing after a year or two. The horns of mountain sheep could also serve as bows. The maker heated the horn, split it, then spliced the two pieces into a single curve with sinew wrappings. About 1,000years ago, hunters began using sinew-backed bows, which were stronger than ABOVE: A
prehistoric hunting blind, helpful for hunters in making effective use o f their weapons.
