Prehistoric Woman Could Likely Hunt as Well as Men, Researchers Say

Prehistoric peoples used a weapon called an atlatl that a new study indicates was an “equalizer” that allowed women to hunt as effectively as men, according to a report Monday by Yahoo! News.

The atlatl essentially works as a lever. The cylindrical tool consisted of a slightly curved shaft, at the end of which was a notch or cup. A dart or javelin was placed in the notch, which helped a thrower add velocity and thrust when launching the dart, spear, or javelin.

While javelins are older, the atlatl was invented at least 17,000 year ago by Upper Paleolithic humans, according to the reference website ThoughtCo. Spanish Conquistadors recorded the use of atlatls by Aztec peoples in Mexico and noted that, with it, a stone weapon could pierce metal armor. The earliest examples of the atlatl, whose name comes from the Aztec word for spearthrower, were found in the Combe Sauniere caves in Southwest France.

“Many people tend to view women in the past as passive and that only males were hunters, but increasingly that does not seem to be the case,” Michelle Bebber, an assistant professor in Kent State University’s department of anthropology, told Yahoo!News. “Indeed, and perhaps most importantly, there seems to be a growing consensus among different fields – archaeology, ethnography and now modern experiments – that women were likely active and successful hunters of game, big and small.”

Bebber’s study involved a group of 108 people, all novice javelin throwers, and a total of 2,160 throws. During the tests Bebber found that women quickly grew accustomed to the atlatl and could launch darts as far as the men “with little effort.”

“Often males became frustrated because they were trying too hard and attempting to use their strength to launch the darts,” Bebber said.

This led Bebber to the conclusion that, through the use of an atlatl, a more “diverse array of people could achieve equal performance results” facilitating equal participation of men and women in hunting.

Not only did the atlatl serve to make women more capable hunters but, according to Bebber, “given that females appear to benefit the most from atlatl use, it is certainly within the realm of possibility that in some contexts females invented the atlatl.”