The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 16, 2024

Spear Thrower

Spear Thrower

200 BCE–200 CE
bone, hematite, cotton thread, sinew
Overall: 5.8 x 2 cm (2 5/16 x 13/16 in.)
The Norweb Collection 1940.507
Location: 232 Andean

Did You Know?

Spear throwers, also called atlatls, use leverage to propel a spear faster and farther through the air.

Description

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.
  • ?-1940
    Raymond Henry Norweb [1894-1983] and Emery May Holden Norweb [1895-1984], Cleveland OH, 1940, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1940
    The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Ubbelohde-Doering, Heinrich. The Art of Ancient Peru. New York: F.A. Praeger, 1952.
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 341
  • Treasures of Peruvian Gold. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 23-April 3, 1966).
    Art of the Americas. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 9, 1945-January 6, 1946).
  • {{cite web|title=Spear Thrower|url=false|author=|year=200 BCE–200 CE|access-date=16 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1940.507