Native American Weaponry

[Jeff Pringle]

I just spent a few days out in the Mojave desert near an old Native American quarry site, and ran across this hammerstone and associated flakes on the ground – the tool or weapon the guy was working on got carried away, but the evidence of it’s manufacture has remained as he left it for 500? 1000? years.
Also, a display of surface projectile point finds from a small area in Eastern Nevada…tracing the evolution of point technology for about 14,000 years

[VANDOO]

MOST NATIVE AMERICAN WEAPONS AND TOOLS WERE STONE, BONE AND WOOD AS THESE MATERIALS WERE READILY AVAILABLE , AND FAST AND EASY TO WORK. THEY COULD ALSO BE MADE BY ONE INDIVIDUAL AND DID NOT REQUIRE LARGE NUMBERS OF THE PEOPLE TO MAKE, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS OFTEN REQUIRED FOR A LARGE GROUP TO TRAVEL TO A DISTANT AREA TO GATHER THE RAW MATERIALS SUCH AS FLINT OR CERTIAN TYPES OF STONES.
HAVING SAID THAT THEY DID WORK IN METALS, THE LARGEST SCALE WORK BEING DONE IN SOUTH AND MID. AMERICA. SILVER AND GOLD, COPPER AND BRONZE ARTEFACTS HAVE BEEN FOUND. MOST OF THE METAL WORK IN NORTH AMERICA SEEMS TO BE COPPER.
METAL WORK REQUIRES A SOURCE TO MINE ORE AND LOTS OF WORKERS TO DIG, SMELT AND FORM IT AS WELL AS MANY TO SUPPLY FUEL FOR THE FIRES. MOST NORTH AMERICAN TRIBES LIVED A MORE SIMPLE LIFE AND DID NOT HAVE THE ORGANIZATION OR NEED FOR SUCH TECKNOLOGY. A FEW EXAMPLES.

1. PRECOLUMBIAN GOLD
2. CHIMU, INCA SILVER BEAKER 11.8IN. TALL
3.COPPER DECAPATATOR 6IN.
4. BRONZE MACE HEAD 4IN. DIA, VICUS CULTURE
5. TWO BRONZE, VICUS MACE HEADS

[VANDOO]

IN SOUTH AND MID AMERICA THEY ALSO USED STONE MACE HEADS SOME OF WHICH WERE OF THE EFFIGY TYPE AND QUITE NICE. MOST OF THESE ARE FROM AROUND 200 TO 700 B.C. THE TWO RED ONES ARE SALINDAR MACE HEADS, THREE OF THE OTHERS ARE SAID TO BE CHAVIN CULTURE. THE OTHERS ARE LISTED AS COMING FROM COSTA RICA BUT I DON'T KNOW FROM WHAT CULTURE.

[katana]

Thanks Vandoo,
these are fantastic examples

Regards David