Mammoth spear thrower

The Mammoth spear thrower in the British Museum.

The Mammoth spear thrower is a spear thrower in the form of a mammoth, discovered at the rock shelter of Montastruc, Tarn-et-Garonne, France. It is from the late Magdalenian period and around 12,500 years old. It now forms part of the Christy Collection in the British Museum (Palart 551), and is normally on display in Room 2.^[1] Between 7 February - 26 May 2013 it was displayed in the exhibition at the British Museum Ice Age Art: Arrival of the Modern Mind^[2]

Features

The spear thrower was carved from a reindeer antler and depicts a mammoth with a hole for an eye which probably held a bone or stone insert originally. The hook has been repaired after the antler from which it was carved broke. The tusks of the mammoth appear on each side but have mostly been lost due to damage. It is about 12cm in length.^[1]

The mammoth is produced in low-relief on both sides of the object. When it was discovered, the broken tail hook had already been repaired. This was achieved by drilling a hole through the mammoth shape, just in front of the broken hook - and inserting in another piece of antler (Sieveking 1987, 65).

Spear throwers were first used in western Europe about 20,000 years ago and enabled hunters to launch spears with more force and speed than if they threw just by hand. It was common for them to be decorated with animal carvings.^[1]

Other types of spear throwers include the perforated batons, which are also often decorated. A wonderful example from La Madeleine can be seen at the British Museum in Room 2.

References

1 2 3 Spear thrower carved as a mammoth. British Museum 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
↑ Ice Age Art: Arrival of the Modern Mind

External links

Graphic of a spear thrower in use.

Prehistoric technology

Tools

Farming

Food processing

Hunting

Arrow Boomerang throwing stick Bow and arrow history Nets Spear Spear-thrower baton harpoon woomera Schöningen Spears

Projectile points	Arrowhead Bare Island Cascade Clovis Cresswell Cumberland Eden Folsom Lamoka Manis Site Plano Transverse arrowhead

Toolmaking

Other tools

Architecture

Ceremonial	Göbekli Tepe Kiva Standing stones megalith row Stonehenge Pyramid

Dwellings	Neolithic architecture British megalith architecture Nordic megalith architecture Burdei Cave Cliff dwelling Dugout Hut Quiggly hole Jacal Longhouse Mud brick Mehrgarh Neolithic long house Pit-house Pueblitos Pueblo Rock shelter Blombos Cave Abri de la Madeleine Sibudu Cave Stone roof Roundhouse Stilt house Alp pile dwellings Wattle and daub

Water management	Check dam Cistern Flush toilet Reservoir Water well

Other architecture	Archaeological features Broch Burnt mound fulacht fiadh Causewayed enclosure Tor enclosure Circular enclosure Goseck Cursus Henge Thornborough Oldest buildings Megalithic architectural elements Midden Timber circle Timber trackway Sweet Track

Arts and culture

Material goods	Baskets Beadwork Beds Chalcolithic Clothing/textiles timeline Cosmetics Glue Hides shoes Ötzi Jewelry amber use Mirrors Pottery Cardium Grooved ware Linear Jōmon Unstan ware Sewing needle Weaving Wine Winery wine press

Prehistoric art	Art of the Upper Paleolithic Art of the Middle Paleolithic Blombos Cave List of Stone Age art Bird stone Bradshaw rock paintings Cairn Carved Stone Balls Cave paintings painting pigment Cup and ring mark Geoglyph Golden hats Guardian stones Megalithic art Petroform Petroglyph Petrosomatoglyph Pictogram Rock art Stone carving Sculpture Statue menhir Stone circle list British Isles and Brittany Venus figurines

Burial	Burial mounds Bowl barrow Round barrow Mound Builders culture U.S. sites Chamber tomb Severn-Cotswold Cist Dartmoor kistvaens Clava cairn Court tomb Cremation Dolmen Great dolmen Funeral pyre Gallery grave transepted wedge-shaped Grave goods Jar burial Long barrow unchambered Grønsalen Megalithic tomb Mummy Passage grave Rectangular dolmen Ring cairn Simple dolmen Stone box grave Tor cairn Tumulus Unchambered long cairn

Other cultural	Astronomy sites lunar calendar Behavioral modernity Origin of language Prehistoric medicine trepanning Evolutionary musicology music archaeology Prehistoric music Alligator drum flutes Divje Babe flute gudi Prehistoric numerals Origin of religion Paleolithic religion Prehistoric religion Spiritual drug use Prehistoric warfare Symbols symbolism

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Mammoth spear thrower

Features

See also

References

Further reading

External links