Paleo and Archaic Weapons

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| Paleo and Archaic | Weapons | | Weapons have always been an important part of every culture. This is because all cultures have conflicts and all people need to hunt for food. Whether it is a small argument between brother and sister, or a World War started because the Prince of a country is assassinated, conflicts exist. To fight wars, hunt, or protect one’s self, a weapon is needed that can kill. Throughout the Paleo and Archaic time periods, men forged clever yet primitive weapons and tools. Archaeologists are able to identify which time period weapons were made in by the spear points they found. Various spear point styles were used to break down the Paleo time period into sub-periods. The earliest known people of the Paleo period are often identified by their points, the Clovis points. The Clovis points were lance shaped and with somewhat parallel side and curved bases. These large spears points were needed to kill large game such as Mammoths, Mastodon, and Buffalo. Scientists observed that these points were used and re-sharpened over and over again. This caused the spear points to become serrated. (See attachment A) Over time, the size of game decreases and so did the size of the spear heads. The Paleo people also developed a way to launch their spear heads to maintain a safe distance when hunting. This would be the beginning of ranged weaponry. Spears couldn’t be thrown very far and the bow and arrow would not be developed until the Woodland time period. Thus the atlatl is invented. It would be used to throw spears and darts further and with higher velocity. Archaics used smaller points (because of smaller prey), and there was not as much of a diversity in points as the Paleos, and the atlatl to hunt for their food. The

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