Peru, South Coast, late Paracas or early Nasca style / 200 BCE–200 CE
Spear Thrower
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Spear Thrower as arms and armor (Peru, South Coast, late Paracas or early Nasca style · 200 BCE–200 CE).
Spear throwers, also called atlatls , use leverage to propel a spear faster and farther through the air.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this arms and armor as bone, hematite, cotton thread, sinew.
The museum's collection notes: Spear throwers improve a spear's range and thrust. The spear was placed against the stone pivot and hurled using the thumb rest, carved as a figure with a skeletal chest, back-bent head, and a severed human head at its rear. This figure, frequent in art, is not well understood, but its appearance here suggests a connection to death. The shaft's carving makes clever use of the bone's marrow cavity.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtSpear ThrowerOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.