Posted on 12/06/2013 11:23:06 AM PST by fishtank
Heh. You just THOUGHT you were posting a serious thread.
Hijack has begun. Only a matter of time before the “Pulled”
The making of a spear is rather complicated and requires a whole lotta thinking.
You would have to conjure up putting holes into your target to end it’s life or threat.
You might initially think “Hey, what if a put a point on this thing. That outta make it easier to puncture it”.
Which would mean you understand that injuring something enough times will end its life or hitting an organ will end its life even faster.
Then you have to think “Well, that’s a great idea but, the hide, sinew, muscles and bones have to be compromised enough that my point stick will do the job”
“Hmmmm, the object I have isn’t going to be particularly effective. How could I improve it?”
So then you would find some harder than wood pointy object and understand that it fits the bill but, being found in a natural state it likely won’t just fit on the end of your stick and your not quite sure how to affix the two objects together.
“Hey, Maybe I make some cordage from sinew, vines, etc and tie this thing on there”.
So you do all this and learn that the pointy piece doesn’t stay on the pointy stick and is only somewhat effective.
“Fk! I’m starving”.
New idea “Hey maybe I put a slit on the end of my pointy stick, place the hard pointy object into the slit and tie it on there again”.
Still, it works somewhat better than the previous “somewhat better” project.
“What to do? What to do?”
So you says to your self “Self. You need to create a foolproof way of affixing this pointy object to the pointy stick, so it doesn’t come off and can be used over and over again”.
So you experiment with many ways of wrapping the pointy object to the pointy stick and learn what seems to be the most effective method.
You go hunting because McDonalds isn’t any where near you and discover that indeed you have improved your ability to kill dinner.
But, “Where am I going to find more pointy objects to attach to my pointy stick, so I can hunt all the day long?”
“Maybe I this obsidian shiny thing can be crafted to a perfect shape and made scalpel sharp?”
So you experiment for a hunting season with various ways of improving this black piece of rock before discovering that if you take a particular type of rock that is harder than the obsidian and place it on a flat surface with this nice piece of leather underneath and to hold it while you work on your arts and craft project, maybe that will be easier.
Heck, you might even think using an antler you had mounted above your campfire will make just the right tool to maybe “Knap” this rock into just the right shape and chip it just so, leaving a razor sharp edge that will slice through “Mr. Deer” fairly easy if you can throw it accurately.
Sooooohhhhhh, man came first and discovered how to put “the other white meat” on the dinner table.
Maybe he didn’t go through that learning process at all, though.
Think about a modern man dumped out in the wilds to fend for himself. He’d already know that he needed to make a spear because it had all been done before... with metal, but that’s not available now so I’ll use this sharp flint...
Should we be talking about spear chuckers in a time of racial turmoil?
That too...
Physical and mental capacity for making and using spears likely has been around in hominids for at least 1.8 my. We have no live comparison for the intellectual ability of Homo Erectus but it’s pretty well accepted they mastered fire. Why not a spear for both thrusting and throwing ( a logical follow through ).
An Obsidian point like that,(that one is beautiful and
not the easiest to make) when new would be razor sharp!
The requested document does not exist on this server.
The catcher?
I can imagine!
But how could a spearchucker exist if the spear wasn’t there to be chucked?
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