Archaeological Evidence for the use of Atlatl Weights in the Northwest

Abstract

AbstractWilson Duff's tentative identification of several lower Fraser River artifacts as atlatl weights led the authors to examine 104 whole and fragmentary probable weights from the Northwest. They classify them on the basis of lashing grooves, notches, holes, or scars into three main types, each of which has variants. The weights are found in the lower Columbia and lower Fraser river valleys with a concentration in the Dalles-Deschutes region and range in time from the late Middle to the early Late periods of the Dalles Reservoir sequence, about 500 B.C. to A.D. 1400. Metallurgical analysis of a hollow copper bead found with two weights indicates that it is prehistoric and suggests connections to the east. The weights are often found paired in burials. Although ethnographic comparisons are disappointing, archaeological comparisons reveal possible relationships between the Northwest and California, the Great Basin and the Southwest, especially during Basketmaker II, and the eastern Woodlands. The possibility that the Northwest atlatl weights may be derived from eastern forms reinforces the previously presented idea that the Northwest participated in certain continent-wide developments.