| Abstract |
This analysis hypothesizes that baby wearing limits the performance capabilities of atlatl technology. If so, such hindrance would have disproportionately affected child caregivers who tend to be breastfeeding females and thus could have contributed to sexual division of subsistence labor among the many forager societies of the past that used baby-wearing and atlatl technologies. Contrary to expectation, experimental atlatl trials including a total of 208 casts fail to find any significant effect of baby wearing on atlatl accuracy or kinetic energy. The results suggest that the mechanical advantages of the atlatl system coupled with the conserved body motion entailed by the delivery mechanism make it possible to safely and effectively operate an atlatl with a baby in tow. Although this analysis does not preclude other limiting factors related to hunting with children, it nonetheless shows that atlatl technology could have been accessible to child caregivers. |
