The very popular Stonetool Technology Show will take place this weekend August 26 and 27 at Letchworth State Park in western New York. Take Interstate-390 to the Mt. Morris exit and follow the signs for Letchworth State Park. This is a great show to meet a large number of flintknappers and many different craftspeople. There is also plenty of opportunity to try out the atlatl.
Aztec Atlatl Battle had great participation at Pennsic War XXXV. We had three battles and up to 50 participants in at least one battle! We are looking forward to next year’s war and more opportunities for Aztec Atlatl Battle.
Thunderbird Atlatl will be at the Pennsic War in Pennsylvania over the next week and a half. There will be plenty of time for Aztec Atlatl Battle and all the fun atlatl games during the SCA sponsored event. We look forward to meeting up with old friends and making new ones.
The last week end of the month will find us at the Stonetool Technology Show at Letchworth State Park (Mt. Morris, NY). This is undoubtably one of the best knap-ins, atlatl events and all around good times. Try to put it on you calendar and come visit.
Labor Day Weekend we will be at the Flint Ridge Museum in Brownsville, Ohio for the annual Labor Day Knap-In and Atlatl contest. This is another great show to attend.
It was a great weekend, as always, at the Green Flats Atlatl Rattle in Hancock, NY. Hosts Ray Turner and Chris Pappas put on a great program. Ray’s eel business sustained a lot of damage in recent flooding but he is open for business again. It is certainly worth a stop if you are in the area.
People showed up in traditional modes of transportaion for the event but there was even a group rafting down the Delaware who stopped in when they saw atlatls being cast along the river bank! All were welcomed. The knap-in, atlatl contests, great food, auction, swimming and great camraderie made for a fantastic weekend.
There is a rock shelter in southwestern Pennsylvania called Meadowcroft. There is evidence there of continuous habitation for at least 15,000 years. Let’s conservatively estimate the average amount of hunter/gatherers living in Pennsylvania at say 1000 people. If these people averaged 10 deer killed per person per year that would mean 135 million deer killed over the last 14, 500 years with atlatls.
The bow came into existence in PA about 1200 years ago. I’m going to estimate Native Americans may have killed 5 million deer during the next seven hundred years with bows and arrows. Five hundred years ago the first Europeans laid their eyes on what would become Pennsylvania but when William Penn got here in the late 1600s his people started to hunt and kill deer regularly. In 1721 the first game laws were promulgated. Deer became rare in PA by 1900 and hunting them trailed off until 1915 when deer started coming back into PA. I’m going to estimate that during that time another five million deer were taken.
It took a half century to harvest the first million deer using modern weapons.
Then from 1950 to 1970 another million and a half deer were killed. From 1970 to 1990 another 4 million deer were killed. Since 1990 another six and a half million deer were killed. A grand total of 23 million deer have been taken with bows and arrows and guns. By these extremely conservative figures, the atlatl is only ahead by 110 million deer kills in the state of Pennsylvania.
I got these figures from the Pennsylvania Game Commission and estimates of prehistoric habitation in Pennsylvania from a talk by Dr Adivasio at the Meadowcroft Rock shelter in 2003. So tell me now that the atlatl is not lethal enough to kill a deer.
The Green Flats Atlatl Rattle is still scheduled July 27 to 30 in Hancock, NY along the banks of the Delaware River.
Host Ray Turner says the event is still on but he will need some extra help this year as the very scenic Delaware River was not so scenic just a few weeks ago when it devastated the area with flood waters. Ray and Chris Pappas set up this very popular event for atlatlists each year. Ray had a lot of losses in the flood this year and any help we can give him will be appreciated.
After talking to Ray, Scott_Van_Arsdale posted the following on Community Zero, Ray “took a big financial hit in the flood, so we will have to raise funds to pay for the hay, porta-johns and any rented tents. He wants everybody to do what they normally do (have lots of fun!), but be prepared to do some more work than just the usual stoning of the eel weir.”
For further information, you can contact Thunderbird Atlatl or contact a World Atlatl Association member.
ATLATL HUNTING
Ron Mertz of Missouri reports that the Regulations Committee of the Missouri Department of Conservation unanimously approved proposed regulations that will legalize the atlatl for hunting and fishing in Missouri, excluding deer and turkey. While we would like to have had deer included, I think the Department has taken an important step since the regulations (and our Code Book) will now specifically refer to atlatls and should help to build awareness. Their proposal will go the the Commissioners in August and the Department staff do not feel there will be any problems in it being approved. After approval, they will become effective in March 2007.” Thanks Ron for the update and yor efforts!
In Pennsylvania, the ongoing effort to get the atlatl approved for deer hunting continues. It is moving forward thanks to the dedicated efforts of many including Russ Guthrie, Jack Rowe, George Miller, Gary Fogelman, Dennis Lantz, Bob Berg and others. A meeting with the Pennsylvania Game Commission staff is scheduled for August 23 in Harrisburg.
