“So, slave, you claim this little tool of yours will enable me to throw my spear far longer and harder than before?”
“Yes, Goddess. The natives on the continent of Africa hunt elephants this way – full-size ones many times larger than the one you killed. You will find the power and range of your throws greatly increased, I promise.”
“Very well, show me how to use this thing.”
I pick up one of the half-dozen long practice sticks I have formed to simulate spears. Elaborately deferential, I instruct my owner how to fit it into the atlatl, hold it and throw it. She is a quick study, and her first cast travels so far across the valley that she gasps with impressed amazement. Each successive throw travels further, and soon she is zeroing in closer on each mark she sets herself. Finally, she n
