UA’s Moundville Park Reveals Secrets of Native-American Arrow and Spear Points in Family-Friendly Knap-in Event

MOUNDVILLE, Ala. – Stone toolmakers, artists who work with primitive techniques and technology specialists demonstrate and sell their works at The University of Alabama’s Moundville Archaeological Park, Friday, March 13, and Saturday, March 14, at its ninth Knap-in and Primitive Arts Meet.

Knap-in hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $3 for students and $5 for adults.

Demonstrations include primitive fishing equipment, bow and arrow shooting and the atlatl, a spear-throwing device used before the introduction of the bow. Visitors can buy one-of-a-kind items at Saturday’s silent auction or buy tickets in the annual raffle. Items donated for these events include stone points and knives, raw materials, jewelry, flintknapping tools and T-shirts.

Friday, March 13, is Kid’s Day. Also available on Saturday, activities for children include rabbit stick and spear throwing, Indian football, grinding corn and making shell necklaces. Rates for school groups are $3 a person. Teachers get in free. Call 205/371-2234 for more information.

Flintknapping, or chipping away at stones to make arrow and spear points, is one of humanity’s oldest crafts. Humans have chipped rocks into tools and weapons for thousands of years. Until Europeans came to the Americas, Native Americans knapped stone arrow and spear points, knife blades, scrapers, drills and many other tools and weapons.

Atlatl demonstrations are featured throughout the knap-in. Derived from the Aztec language, the atlatl is a spear-throwing device apparently first invented in Europe, where the oldest archaeological evidence suggests they may have first been used 19,000 years ago.

Either by word of mouth or by independent invention, the spear thrower found its way to the farthest reaches of the world. In some areas, such as Australia, Mexico, the Arctic and portions of Asia, its use has continued until the present day, although the bow and arrow eventually replaced it in most locations hundreds or even thousands of years ago.

Moundville is 13 miles south of Tuscaloosa off Alabama Highway 69. For more information, phone 205/371-2234, e-mail Claudia Cummings at ccumming@ua.edu or visit http://moundville.ua.edu.