THE AMERICAS
BY J. J. GEORGE
Th e principal weapons used by ancient indigenous North
Americans were the spear-thrower, or atlatl; the sling; the
spear; and the club, all of which were used in both warfare
and hunting. Instruments used only for hunting included
the harpoon, the bola, the blowgun, the rodent skewer, and
the reptile hook. Shields and rudimentary body armor were
used defensively in warfare. Weapons were normally made
of stone, bone, horn, and wood. Oft en they were composite,
the point, head, or blade being made of stone or bone and
the handle or shaft of wood. Metal was rarely used for weap-
ons because metallurgy was limited to soft er metals, such as
gold and silver, and largely only for decorative rather than
utilitarian purposes. In Mexico, where metallurgy was most
highly developed, there was an abundance of obsidian and
other igneous stone, which was superior to copper and cop-
per alloys for weapon points and blades. Iron and steel tools
and weapons arrived with the Europeans in the 15th and 16th^
centuries c.e.
Th e earliest projectile points discovered in North Amer-
ica date from about 11,000 b.c.e.; they are attributed to the
Clovis culture and were probably spear points because they
are too large for arrows. Th e blade’s unique design, a narrow,
tapering profi le with sharpened side edges and a technically
challenging “fl ute” at the base for haft ing, was intended to
maximize the lance’s ability to pierce hide or skin. Th e lance
would have been used in close proximity to the intended
target. In several instances, recovered Clovis points were
found hundreds of miles from where they had been quarried,
sometimes in burial caches, leading to continued speculation
about who made them, how the technology was transferred,
and what it meant when they were ceremonially buried. It is
not until about 500 c.e. that chipped stone points, compa-
rable in size and workmanship to modern arrowheads, fi rst
became known.
Th e atlatl, a device that supplies leverage by adding length
to the user’s arm and increases the range, force, and accuracy
of the spear, seems to have been distributed throughout the
world by migration or diff usion. It was used by the polar Es-
kimo in the Arctic, the Tlingit of the Northwest Coast, groups
in Baja California and northwestern New Mexico, and Native
Americans at the mouth of the Mississippi; it was also used
throughout Mesoamerica and by many people of the circum-
Caribbean area. Th e spear-thrower has existed in Europe for
at least 20,000 years, but the oldest-known examples from
the Americas date to about 5000 b.c.e. Th e spear probably
preceded the bow by many thousands of years; indisputable
evidence of the bow is not known until about 500 c.e.
Th e decline of Hopewell sites in the Illinois Valley around
400 c.e. coincides with the disappearance of fi nely made at-
latl weights from the archaeological record, which seems to
refl ect the replacement of the atlatl by the new weapon system
of the bow and arrow; small points, probably from arrows,occur at Illinois sites at this time. Th e greater range and ac-
curacy of the bow and arrow may have aff ected hunting prac-
tices and probably altered the way warriors engaged. Also, an
increased incidence of warfare in the Ohio Valley has been
inferred from the seemingly defensive location and layout of
some hilltop enclosures, a change in site planning possibly
necessitated in part by changes in weapons technology.
Handheld spears varied greatly in length, diameter, and
type of point. Th ey were employed more in hunting than in
warfare and appear to have been in use by at least 8000 b.c.e.
in the Pleistocene to kill bison in North America. In areas
where atlatls and the bow and arrow were present, it appears
that the spear was not used javelin style and tended to be re-
served for heavy duty at close range. Recent excavations at
New Haven Harbor in Connecticut have uncovered more
than 5,000 stone artifacts dated to before 1000 b.c.e., includ-
ing unfi nished points and dart points made of fashioned
quartzite that could have been used to form the lethal end
of an atlatl dart. Used primarily in hunting, the projectiles
would have proved lethal against enemies.
In Mesoamerica early examples of defensive armor in-
clude quilted or rolled cotton. At Teotihuacán (ca. 1–650 c.e.)
spun cotton body armor, called escupil, and helmets were in-
tr oduced to protect the head, body, and limbs. Some scholars
have tied the sudden increase in the need for and use of cot-
ton to acceleration in the downfall of Teotihuacán. One argu-
ment suggests that because the military was essentially a state
enterprise, the state’s decline was facilitated by its inability to
provide armor to everyone due to its cost. Th e art historical
record also provides insight into the nature of Teotihuacán
weaponry. Warriors are depicted wielding atlatls and rectan-
gular shields or thrusting spears and bucklers. Th e depictions
suggest standardized weaponry, which typically indicates
state control, formations, and complimentary arms use. One
likely scenario inferred from the depictions of warriors and
weaponry suggests that the atlatlists would fi rst engage the
enemy with projectile fi re, and then the spearmen would
close and engage the enemy in hand-to-hand combat.
For a long time scholars believed the Mayan civilization
to be peaceful and idyllic. A brief inventory of their weaponry
dispels that notion: Spears, atlatls, darts, and arrow points
used as weapons were common in Mayan civilization of the
Classic Period (ca. 150–ca. 650 c.e.). Th e art historical record
shows that the Maya were clearly equipped to fi ght. Stela 31
from Tikal records Stormy Sky, the name of a ruler in the
mid-fi ft h century c.e., fl anked by two guardians dressed in
Teotihuacán-style military garb, carrying shields, spear-
throwers, and feathered darts. Spear and dart points found
at the rapidly abandoned fortifi ed city of Aguateca, Guate-
mala, suggests that both the royal family and elite scribes
and artists used them for intergroup warfare as well as for
artistic and craft production under enemy threat. An impor-
tant implication is that the ruler and elite scribes and artists
were also warriors. In another example, an unusually high
concentration of identifi able weaponry at the hilltop center ofweaponry and armor: The Americas 11710895-1194_Soc&Culturev4(s-z).i1171 1171 10/10/07 2:31:20 PM