WEBVTT - Invention Playlist 3: The Atlatl Spear Thrower 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:09.080 Welcome to Invention, a production of I Heart Radio. Hey, 0:00:09.200 --> 0:00:12.119 welcome to Invention. My name is Robert lamp and I'm 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:15.360 Joe Mccormickin today, we wanted to have a little discussion 0:00:15.680 --> 0:00:19.960 about how certain types of weapons going way back into history, 0:00:20.000 --> 0:00:25.440 and especially projectile weapons, changed the human animal. That's right, 0:00:25.520 --> 0:00:28.560 But I mean put yourself as much as is possible 0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:32.600 in the mindset of our prehistoric ancestors. You know, we're 0:00:32.640 --> 0:00:34.600 you know there they were. They were scroungers, you know, 0:00:34.720 --> 0:00:39.000 leveraging a large primate brain to forage sustenance from roots 0:00:39.000 --> 0:00:41.680 and berries, uh, you know, from from the meat they 0:00:41.880 --> 0:00:45.640 learned to catch, scavenge or steel from larger predators. And 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:48.279 key to all of this is distance. I think it's 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:50.240 easy to take this for granted, and especially those of 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:53.440 us who are removed from any kind of hunting tradition. Well, 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:56.320 I've got a story about this. Actually, for the first 0:00:56.360 --> 0:00:59.600 time in my life, the other day, somehow I got 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:02.600 within like twenty feet of a deer. I was just 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:05.679 out walking my dog along a forest path here in town, 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:09.680 you know, a park here in town. Um, and uh 0:01:09.760 --> 0:01:12.440 that I was completely blind to it. Suddenly the dog's 0:01:12.480 --> 0:01:15.800 attention goes, you know, rigid, This whole body is just 0:01:15.920 --> 0:01:18.920 full of electric tension, and his ears are up and 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:21.560 he's frozen, and I'm like, what's going on? And then 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:24.120 the deer bolts, and the deer had been, you know, 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:26.720 maybe less than twenty feet away from my body, and 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:29.560 I'd been just blind to it. It completely blended in 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:31.720 with the leaves and the trees and all that. But 0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:34.759 what it actually made me realize is I never get 0:01:34.760 --> 0:01:38.000 that close to a deer. Normally, at long distances away, 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:40.480 they hear you moving and they bolt. You don't get 0:01:40.520 --> 0:01:43.400 anywhere that close to him. Yeah, And I mean, certainly 0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:46.000 there are places where you can you can go where 0:01:46.040 --> 0:01:49.360 the wildlife has been desensitized to human presence, such as 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:52.440 say you go to Yosemite National Park, you know, or 0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:55.320 or where you go to the Grand Canyon, and you're 0:01:55.360 --> 0:01:57.720 in some of those high tourist areas where the animals 0:01:57.720 --> 0:02:00.000 are not in danger, and therefore you can get i'll 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:03.760 alarmingly close to say an enormous elk or a Grand 0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:06.240 Canyon squirrel. Oh yeah, the Grand Canyon squirrel. Well, I 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:08.400 mean that highlights the other thing is if people have 0:02:08.520 --> 0:02:13.120 been illicitly feeding these animals, which in general you shouldn't do. Yes, yeah, 0:02:13.320 --> 0:02:16.480 do not feed the bears. But yeah, but I think 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:20.840 this this drives home that like, uh, during this time, uh, 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:22.960 you know, they're there are all these animals at large 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:26.000 in the world. But how many can you get close to? 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:29.839 How many can you get close to enough to potentially 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:34.200 kill in order to acquire their protein? Um, it's gonna, 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:37.800 you know, depend you know, situationally, it's going to depend 0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:40.359 you know, is this an injured animal? Is this an 0:02:40.360 --> 0:02:43.359 animal that was killed by another predator? But a lot 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:45.480 of it is going to come down to like human skill. 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:48.760 Uh can you can you stalk this creature? Can you 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:52.400 be stealthy enough to close the distance between yourself and 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:55.400 the protein? And there are some theories about like the 0:02:55.400 --> 0:03:00.120 the ability of endurance running in humans, that endurance runing, 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:04.519 our ability at marathon ng and stuff is to compensate 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:06.960 for the fact that a short distances almost all prey 0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:09.720 animals can outrun us. But that with a lot of them, 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:12.760 we can run for longer than they can, and after 0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:15.280 they tire out and can't go anymore, we can finally 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:16.840 catch up with them. Yeah, It's it's kind of like 0:03:16.880 --> 0:03:19.480 the terminator approach. But this is yeah, this is part 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:23.160 of our human hunting heritage, is that this was one 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:26.000 way we were like, well, I can't I can't out 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:29.040 battle the animal, I can't outrun it. But I can 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:31.840 be persistent and I can I can fix my mind 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:34.560 on it, and I can just never stop until it 0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:37.240 wears out. But even then, if you're getting close range 0:03:37.280 --> 0:03:39.200 with even a lot of prey animals, I mean not 0:03:39.240 --> 0:03:41.600 to speak of predators who might be preying on us, 0:03:41.680 --> 0:03:45.560 but say like a large bovid type animal, you know, 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:49.160 a bison or a or a large stag or a moose. 0:03:49.280 --> 0:03:50.920 You get close to one of those things and it 0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:53.640 can hurt you. Oh yeah, I mean you're talking about 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:56.960 either being gored by the point of end or or 0:03:57.160 --> 0:03:59.760 kicked by the other end. And these can these can 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:03.960 be fatal blows or gores in either case. Uh. And 0:04:04.000 --> 0:04:06.600 then yeah, the predators as well, like these are animals 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:09.720 that are far more adept at closing the distance between 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:12.160 their hunger and the shape of you know, a lowly 0:04:12.200 --> 0:04:15.360 primate for example. Uh, A primate that you know, for 0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:18.320 all its tricks of stone and stick and fire, is 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:22.640 still helpless against an adversary or even a you know, 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:24.920 like you said, a large prey animal if there is 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:28.960 no distance left and no technological advantage exactly. And then 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:31.160 we're talking about a time here when there were no 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:34.640 bows and arrows yet, so we had we had rocks 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:37.080 that could be thrown and uh, and this is being 0:04:37.120 --> 0:04:41.400 one of of the rocks many specialized roles that we've 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:43.839 created for it, um, you know, and because we had 0:04:43.880 --> 0:04:47.120 pretty dexterous hands, right uh. And we're pretty good at 0:04:47.120 --> 0:04:49.280 throwing things, but there's only so much you can do 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:52.200 with a rock. And then of course there's the spear. 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:54.839 The spear. The spear is kind of a game changer, 0:04:54.960 --> 0:04:58.159 right yeah. I mean the spear is it's a tree 0:04:58.200 --> 0:05:00.920 that we've made into a horn, right or into an 0:05:00.960 --> 0:05:04.839 antler or a great tooth um. And uh. The thing is, 0:05:04.839 --> 0:05:09.120 when we're looking back at a prehistoric humans and even 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:12.320 their their predecessors, you know, these were things that were 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:14.760 already in use. The spear had had been in use 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:17.400 by these creatures and those that came before them for 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:21.200 hundreds of thousands of years um. And we should also, 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:24.400 I think make a distinction between the the thrusting spear, 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:28.640 which is used for stabbing and the throwing spear. Right, yeah, 0:05:28.720 --> 0:05:30.920 I mean either way, we're talking about an incredible piece 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:34.080 of technology because it enables them to hunt prey and 0:05:34.120 --> 0:05:37.960 defend against predators that their ancestors could have rarely engaged. 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:41.760 Uh and um, you know there were there were limits 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:44.680 either way. So if you're using it as a thrusting tool, uh, 0:05:44.720 --> 0:05:47.000 you know, it's it's still pretty impressive, right because you're 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:50.159 talking about say a six to seven foot spear, But 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:52.760 then you still have the big distance problem about getting 0:05:52.760 --> 0:05:55.680 close to a prey animal that might be dangerous or 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:59.800 just impossible because it's outrunning you. Right, Yeah, So six 0:05:59.880 --> 0:06:02.640 to seven feet you can you know, thrusting it, you're 0:06:02.800 --> 0:06:06.640 adding to the length of that spear essentially. But unless 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:10.920 you are just super lucky or just or skillful beyond words, 0:06:11.680 --> 0:06:13.520 that one spear is probably not going to be enough 0:06:13.560 --> 0:06:15.720 to do it, or you're gonna miss or you're gonna 0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:17.920 hit the wrong spot. So you know, you're gonna have 0:06:17.960 --> 0:06:21.480 to depend on all these other bits of primate trickery 0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:23.560 at your disposal. You're gonna have to depend on the 0:06:23.600 --> 0:06:27.680 stealth numbers, some sort of strategy. Um, you know, multiple 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:31.160 spear thrusters and even then you're awfully close to a 0:06:31.279 --> 0:06:35.400 dangerous animal. And even when you're getting into throne spears, 0:06:35.440 --> 0:06:39.200 you know, essentially a javelin, even then you're there are 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:42.919 limits to to the range and you're still going to 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:45.000 be faced with a similar situation. You still have to 0:06:45.040 --> 0:06:47.440 get you have to close the distance enough to utilize 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:50.159 the weapon, and then you need to be able to 0:06:51.040 --> 0:06:55.800 close the deal without the creature fleeing again, leaving you 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:58.040 in the dust and perhaps being picked off by some 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:00.760 other predator that's more skillful than you, that can take 0:07:00.800 --> 0:07:04.120 advantage of the wounded. Yeah, that's all right. But even 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:08.120 given all of these limitations, we shouldn't underestimate the power 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:10.120 of the spirit. It's sort of changed what kind of 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:14.400 predator we are thinking about before projectile weapons. You are, 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:18.120 you are so limited just just by reach, and the 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:21.280 spear that that is thrown is a kind of revolutionary 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:23.880 update of the body schema. You know, it's it's like, 0:07:24.040 --> 0:07:26.960 you know, it's a tooth that leaves the body. Yeah, 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:28.600 which is you know, sort of the you know, you 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:33.000 see that kind of advancement sometimes in the in the 0:07:33.040 --> 0:07:36.120 in the biological world. But yeah, for the moment, for 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:39.960 certainly for a primate. This is a new skill altogether. UH. 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:41.920 And it's a but it's a pretty it's a pretty 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:45.400 old invention. UM the spirit itself when we try to 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:48.120 date it. While the remains of wooden spears have been 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:51.440 found in Hanover, Germany that date back to four hundred 0:07:51.480 --> 0:07:54.680 thousand years ago, and we're talking between six and seven 0:07:54.680 --> 0:07:58.360 point five foot javelins here, UM, so the idea is 0:07:58.400 --> 0:08:01.960 that they would have been thrown weapons. UH. The technology 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:05.920 UM is even older, though the weapons don't always survive UM. 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:10.440 For instance, they fossilized rhinoceros shoulder blade UM was found 0:08:10.520 --> 0:08:13.400 in Box Grove, England, and it had a projectile wound 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:15.520 in it, and that's been dated to about five hundred 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:18.520 thousand years ago. And this, incidentally, this wouldn't have been 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:22.840 the work of of of modern Homo sapiens. This would 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:25.600 have been the work of Homo heidelberg insis, which was 0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:30.320 an immediate process that predecessed there to Homo sapiens. And UH. 0:08:30.320 --> 0:08:34.400 In terms of how these spirlit spears were composed, stone 0:08:34.440 --> 0:08:37.720 pointed spears date back at least three hundred thousand years 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:42.679 to Neanderthals and archaic Homo sapiens but five hundred thousand 0:08:42.760 --> 0:08:47.040 year old deposits at cathu Pan in South Africa have 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:51.000 presented evidence of their use among Homo heidelberg insis. So again, 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:56.760 the spear is ultimately more ancient than even our species. Now, 0:08:56.800 --> 0:08:59.280 the idea of a weapon that you can throw, especially 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:01.079 like a spear that you can throw, that's sort of 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:03.760 an upgrade on just throwing a rock or even throwing 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:06.439 like a byface. So you know, like the hand axes 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:08.559 that we've talked about, um, that you might have been 0:09:08.559 --> 0:09:10.480 able to create a sharp edge on, and we don't 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:12.440 know exactly what those were always for. We don't know 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:15.960 that they were necessarily thrown weapons. Um. But but throwing 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:18.480 a spear is definitely an upgrade. I mean that that 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:21.600 adds a new dimension of lethality to to the reach 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:24.760 of your body in a hunting or fighting context. But 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:28.280 you're still somewhat limited in range there, because have you 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:31.360 ever tried to throw a seven foot spear? How far 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:33.760 can you throw it? I mean, I've thrown a broom before, 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:36.760 but it's hardly the same thing. Uh Well, I mean 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:39.880 you probably know intuitively that you're not going to achieve 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:42.960 the same kind of range. Uh and speed of throw 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:45.120 with a with a hand thrown spear that you can 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:47.040 with say a bow and arrow, right, and you can 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:50.160 go a lot farther and shoot a lot faster, uh, 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:52.840 with an arrow and an attention bow than you can 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:55.439 just trying to hurl a rod out of your hand. Right. 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:58.000 And we'll get into some of the comparative ranges as 0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:01.880 we proceed here. But uh, in terms of just looking 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:04.880 at a throne spear, you have to take into account 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:09.240 the math of range and accuracy. Right, Um, But consider 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:12.480 the modern Olympic record for javelin throwing, which we might 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:16.120 consider sort of the peak of distant spear throwing technology 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:18.280 because we're talking about utilizing him in the cases you know, 0:10:18.320 --> 0:10:22.000 modern designs, modern materials, and also this is generally a 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:25.320 situation where one is is not trying to take down 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:29.319 a living animal. Uh, You're you're just throwing for distance sake. 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:33.760 But the the the record that I ran across was 0:10:34.200 --> 0:10:37.559 one hundred and four point eighty meters or three hundred 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:40.720 and forty three feet nine and three four inches. And 0:10:40.760 --> 0:10:43.320 this was a record set, an Olympic record set by 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:46.880 East Germany's Yui Han in En four. And this is 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:49.840 actually a throw that forced a redesign in an Olympic 0:10:49.920 --> 0:10:54.320 javelins to keep them within the safe confines of the field. Um. 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:57.240 As such, he's the only Olympic javelin thrower to break 0:10:57.240 --> 0:11:00.679 the hundred meter barrier. But as we're saying this, uh, 0:11:00.720 --> 0:11:03.160 this is something that is a modern situation, brought about 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:05.960 by the fact of modern design and materials of this 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:09.400 javelin and the fact that he's purely going for distance. 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:13.160 This is not an attempt to hit something and wound 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:16.000 it with accuracy. Right, Yeah, there's a difference between say, 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:18.240 hitting the broadside of a barn and then hitting the 0:11:18.280 --> 0:11:21.880 broadside of Satan mammoth, and and again with the mind 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:24.520 of not only hitting it and saying, hey, look how 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:26.280 great I am at throwing a javelin. No, you're you're 0:11:26.320 --> 0:11:29.240 not great at throwing a javelin in the prehistoric context 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:32.760 unless you and those working with you can bring the 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:36.360 animal down, because ultimately it's all about survival. But again, 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:39.240 the spear was a game changer and it was around 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:41.000 for a long time. I mean, we're we're not really 0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:43.200 even really going to get into military usage all that 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:45.760 much in this episode, but um, you know, we should 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:48.040 note that the spear would remain, would become and remain 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:51.480 a standard in military conflict for thousands of years, especially 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:54.120 when used in a phalanx, you know, a close formation 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:57.760 of troops that all have spears. But then again, you're 0:11:57.760 --> 0:11:59.360 not gonna be able to use that really to to 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:02.320 you know, go bring down of stag. Not really, you 0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:04.920 don't really think about that being hunting tactic, right, Your 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:08.280 falanx doesn't really keep up with the stag. But again, 0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:10.520 the spear was a major technology, was a game changer, 0:12:10.760 --> 0:12:12.760 and it remained in use for a very long time. 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:16.000 But at some point a new range weapon uh came 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:17.560 on the scene, and that was, of course the bow 0:12:17.640 --> 0:12:20.040 and arrow. Right. And you might think, okay, well, there's 0:12:20.080 --> 0:12:22.640 just like the next step, right, you go from throwing 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:25.040 a spear with your hand to the bow and arrow 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:28.720 and there's nothing in between, right, Uh. When that is 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:31.560 not true. That's the that that is the whole reason 0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:35.000 we're doing this episode is to talk about the technology 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:38.560 that comes between these advancements. That's right. We are talking 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:42.400 about a projectile delivery system, one of the one of 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:46.520 the most beautiful early machines that humans put together that 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:49.760 is commonly today known as the addle adele. Alright, on 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:51.360 that note, we're gonna take a quick break, but when 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:54.839 we come back, we are going to discuss the spear 0:12:54.880 --> 0:13:03.640 throwing technology. Alright, we're back, so it's time to talk 0:13:03.679 --> 0:13:07.800 about upgrading the spear by upgrading the delivery mechanism of 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:10.360 the spear. And this is before you get to the 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:13.040 bow and arrow. This is after the hand thrown spear, 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:15.800 before the bow and arrow. There's this weapon that comes 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:19.280 along in human techno history. Uh and it's not nearly 0:13:19.320 --> 0:13:21.680 as well known as the bow, obviously, but it is 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:25.120 nevertheless one of the most world changing and longest use 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:30.280 technologies in human history. And this weapon is the audleladdle. Uh. So, 0:13:30.360 --> 0:13:32.360 the word addle lattle is spelled a t l a 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:35.240 t l. It comes from the n waddle language of 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:38.800 the Aztec. But it's it's just that's just one regional 0:13:38.880 --> 0:13:42.120 variant of the name. More generally, this technology is sometimes 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:45.480 known as the spear thrower or the dart thrower. Though 0:13:45.559 --> 0:13:48.480 don't let the word dart give you the wrong idea there. 0:13:48.520 --> 0:13:50.959 When I first read dart thrower, I was thinking, okay, 0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:53.000 like a game of darts. So something that's like four 0:13:53.040 --> 0:13:55.760 inches long and hold in your hand now that this 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:59.160 is going to be referring to a huge projectile. Yeah, 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:01.640 we're talking a something that you would look at and 0:14:01.679 --> 0:14:04.880 classify as a very large arrow or a or a 0:14:05.040 --> 0:14:08.520 or even just a spear, like a spear with fletching 0:14:08.559 --> 0:14:11.400 sort of. So there are other words and other languages 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:14.760 for the same tool. Uh. Apparently in Spanish it's known 0:14:14.800 --> 0:14:20.640 as the estolica, and in French it's the propulsire. The 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:24.760 English transliterations, I think of the common Australian terms for 0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:28.880 it are are woomera or miru. I was reading that 0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:30.920 there's a version used by some of the you pick 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:34.640 people of Alaska, mostly for hunting seals. Reportedly even to 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:37.440 the present day by some that's called the new cock 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:40.720 or the throwing board. On this being the idea that 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:42.720 it's it's essentially in this case of I mean it's 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:45.720 kind of board shaped. Yeah, not the dart itself, but 0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:48.720 the throwing device, the the the equivalent of the addle addle, 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:51.560 which we're going to be focusing on today. So what 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:54.120 is this thing if you've never seen one in action? Well, 0:14:54.280 --> 0:14:57.520 in some ways, it looks so simple, it's deceptively simple. 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:00.240 It's simple in a way that hides the gene use 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:03.640 of this invention, and I would argue that it's one 0:15:03.640 --> 0:15:08.320 of our earliest biological augmentations, ways of sort of upgrading 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:10.760 the human body, almost in a kind of video game, 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:13.560 since like sort of the first steps towards cyborg dum. 0:15:14.240 --> 0:15:17.240 One example, of course, of this type of bioaugmentation would 0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:20.040 be something like wearing animal skins as clothes. You know, 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:24.840 this turns our relatively climate sensitive bodies into technological hybrids, 0:15:24.960 --> 0:15:27.600 like as if we had fur and extra layers of 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:29.640 skin to help us keep warm and protect us from 0:15:29.680 --> 0:15:32.680 the weather. And the addle Lottele is like this, except 0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:36.000 instead of upgrading our epidermist. It's a similar type of 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:39.880 upgrade for the spear throwing human arm. Yeah, I mean, 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:42.800 like any tool use upgrades the body schema, like it 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:46.280 updates the way that your brain is processing the limits 0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:49.000 of your body and how you use your body. So 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:51.000 you know, if you use a you have a sharpened 0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:54.120 uh stick in your hand, you have a sword in 0:15:54.160 --> 0:15:57.840 your hand, well, your that is an extension of your arm. Yeah, 0:15:57.880 --> 0:16:00.880 it's an increased like the lethalid in the reach of 0:16:00.960 --> 0:16:03.880 your hand, right, and that in a nutshell is what's 0:16:03.880 --> 0:16:07.920 going on here is increasing the length of the throwing arm. 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:12.080 Uh Well, one bit of technology that that it's I 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:15.280 think it's sort of comparable to, is the tennis ball 0:16:15.320 --> 0:16:19.280 thrower that dog enthusiast and dog owners sometimes have. Yes, 0:16:19.320 --> 0:16:21.880 if you've ever seen one of these things that I 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:25.240 think it's mostly actually just for keeping the slobber off 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:27.760 of your helps you pick it up to so it's 0:16:27.760 --> 0:16:30.120 like a little scoop that you know, if your your 0:16:30.160 --> 0:16:32.240 dog brings the tennis ball back to you, it's covered 0:16:32.280 --> 0:16:34.240 in in drool and you pick it up in this 0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:37.040 scoop and then you whip the scoop out overhand and 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:39.360 throw the ball. And it also helps you get distance 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:42.520 on the because I don't have one that's for dogs, 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:45.520 but I have one um that that is for for children, 0:16:46.160 --> 0:16:48.520 similar concept. I guess where the child out by throwing 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:50.840 it farther so that but it's like a whistle ball, 0:16:50.880 --> 0:16:53.360 like one of these like nerf whistleball things. And I 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:56.680 was it's really super fun because you can just really 0:16:56.760 --> 0:16:59.640 hurl this thing like like like crazy like far, you know, 0:16:59.680 --> 0:17:02.120 far greater distance than you could by just trying to 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:04.920 throw it like a mini football. But how does that happen. 0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:07.560 Your arm didn't get any stronger. You're just as strong 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:09.399 as you were when you were throwing at those puny 0:17:09.480 --> 0:17:13.119 distances with your hand. Uh So, the same principle is 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:16.160 at play in the addle addle. So the invention has 0:17:16.240 --> 0:17:19.320 two primary parts. One is the dart, which we were 0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:21.080 talking about a minute ago. It looks sort of like 0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:24.119 a huge arrow. It's going to be usually a wooden 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:27.159 shaft with a sharpened point at its tip, either like 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:32.080 a stone spearhead or just a sharpened wooden tip in 0:17:32.200 --> 0:17:35.320 anything sharp and puncturing. And then on the back it's 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:38.280 going to have fletchings. So I think these feather fins 0:17:38.320 --> 0:17:39.800 that you would see on the back of an arrow, 0:17:40.119 --> 0:17:44.280 and those are for aerodynamic stabilization. They help it fly straight. 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:46.760 If you've never seen a dart like this, basically just 0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:50.600 picture something that is like an arrow, but spear sized, 0:17:50.760 --> 0:17:53.560 maybe six feet or about one point eight meters long 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:55.960 on average, though they can be a good bit longer 0:17:56.040 --> 0:17:58.600 or shorter. The average is about six or seven feet. 0:17:59.560 --> 0:18:02.400 Then you've got the launching device, the auto laddle itself, 0:18:02.480 --> 0:18:06.399 which is a baton that is used to throw the dart, 0:18:06.840 --> 0:18:08.600 and this is usually going to be in the range 0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:10.640 of about one and a half to two ft long, 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:14.040 or about fifty to sixty centimeters roughly. Though then again, 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:16.160 you know, like the dart, this can be a good 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:19.239 bit longer or shorter. Uh so, So picture something kind 0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:22.040 of like a two ft baton. It's got a grip 0:18:22.119 --> 0:18:25.240 handle on one end and on the other end some 0:18:25.359 --> 0:18:28.720 type of component that couples with the back end of 0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:32.200 the dart. And this can be a cup shaped depression 0:18:32.280 --> 0:18:34.480 that the back of the dart sits in, or it 0:18:34.480 --> 0:18:36.680 can be kind of a simple hook that the back 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:40.440 of the dart catches in, or sometimes it's actually inverted 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:43.439 where the back of the auto laddle has a spur 0:18:43.680 --> 0:18:46.640 that locks into a groove or depression on the rear 0:18:46.760 --> 0:18:49.560 end of the dart. Does that make sense. Yeah, we'll 0:18:49.560 --> 0:18:51.879 try and have at least one image of this on 0:18:51.920 --> 0:18:54.720 the landing page for this episode at invention pot dot com. 0:18:55.200 --> 0:18:58.040 But also, this is the kind of technology that a 0:18:58.080 --> 0:18:59.920 lot of you have probably had the privilege of seeing 0:19:00.160 --> 0:19:03.560 in either in a museum when when it's available, or 0:19:03.560 --> 0:19:07.680 at least a recreation of it, or various YouTube videos 0:19:07.680 --> 0:19:09.960 where people have recreated them. Yeah, you can look up 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:11.800 all kinds of There are tons of attle lott of 0:19:11.920 --> 0:19:14.360 enthusiasts out there today. In addition to the people who 0:19:14.359 --> 0:19:17.040 actually do still actively hunt with it, there are a 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:19.840 lot of people who just kind of play with them recreationally, right, 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:24.320 and the addle lotto itself, taking into account both modern 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:29.679 and ancient variations, it can often look just very utilitarian, 0:19:29.960 --> 0:19:32.480 like like clearly a stick that you know it is 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:36.280 for uh, you know, for for launching a spear, you know, 0:19:36.720 --> 0:19:38.879 not not a lot more than that. But you also 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:41.520 see some rather ornate looking ones that really look like 0:19:41.520 --> 0:19:43.600 a scepter. You can sort of tell that they have 0:19:43.680 --> 0:19:46.600 some sort of a functionality, like they're like, clearly there's 0:19:46.640 --> 0:19:50.040 some sort of purpose for its shape. But uh, you know, 0:19:50.080 --> 0:19:53.119 there's some some wonderful examples of this for the you know, 0:19:53.200 --> 0:19:57.840 date back say seventeen thousand to thirteen thousand years ago, uh, 0:19:57.920 --> 0:20:01.080 for modern day France, and the example I was looking 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:04.399 at it, it looks like a deer perched atop a stick. 0:20:04.840 --> 0:20:07.320 And there are these added birds as well. And in 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:11.160 some of these cases these maybe these may be nonfunctional 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:13.960 versions of the add a lottle. This is what it 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:16.720 would have been, say the odd a lottle that you 0:20:16.720 --> 0:20:20.119 would put on the wall the same way that they are. Like, 0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:23.240 swords have a real function and they were made for 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:25.560 a real functional reason. But there are plenty of just 0:20:25.680 --> 0:20:28.919 decorative swords that exists, you know, the fancy one that 0:20:28.960 --> 0:20:31.200 you hang up over the mantel or the hand ax 0:20:31.320 --> 0:20:33.879 is another example of this. They're like there's some examples 0:20:33.880 --> 0:20:36.160 of the hand ACKs that that may have been hard 0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:38.840 to say in many cases, but may have been purely decorative. 0:20:39.320 --> 0:20:41.600 But that gets into this weird relationship we have with 0:20:41.600 --> 0:20:45.880 our technology, right we When technology plays an important role 0:20:45.880 --> 0:20:48.960 in our lives, it can be fetishized, it can be 0:20:49.440 --> 0:20:51.960