i8 



SCIENCE PROGRESS 



The simple point presented itself almost ready-made as one 

 of the prongs of the reindeer's horn ; the harpoons of the suc- 

 ceeding stages required more elaborate workmanship. The 

 form with uniserial barbs often ends below in a conical point 

 with a flange on one side only, and in some cases two or three 

 of these heads may have been bound together at the end of the 

 shaft to form a bident or trident for spearing fish. In some 

 well-made examples from Castillo, in Santander, a perforation 



exists near the base — probably intended for 

 a connecting thong (fig. i). 



The harpoons with biserial barbs take a 

 great variety of forms, and near the base 

 frequently swell out into an annular ridge, 

 or two opposed lobes, before terminating in 

 a blunt cone. This, again, is suggestive of a 

 loose union with the shaft, and in one instance 

 the upper angles, where the lobes spring 

 from the head, are deeply incised as though 

 to afford a notch for a connecting thong. The 

 double-barbed harpoons of the Azilian stage, 

 which succeeds the Magdalenian, are per- 

 forated with a fairly large hole, obviously 

 intended for the passage of such a thong. 



No bows have been discovered in any 

 Magdalenian deposits ; this weapon, if it 

 existed, was almost certainly made of wood. 

 Some of the simple bone-points are of such 

 fig. i.-Harpoon-heads comparat i ve ly small size that they could not 



from Castillo, in San- L , -i i i 



tander, Spain. have served tor spears, and can only be 



interpreted as arrow-heads. 

 Whatever doubts may be entertained as to the existence of 

 the bow, there can be none as to the "propulseur" or spear- 

 thrower, an instrument still in use among several wild hunting 

 tribes, including some who at the same time are also in pos- 

 session of the bow. The spear-thrower reduced to its simplest 

 terms is a stick with a recurved tooth at one end ; the spear is 

 laid parallel with the stick, its butt-end resting against the tooth. 

 It is differently held by different races ; the Eskimo rest it 

 between the root of the forefinger and thumb, the ends of 

 these digits holding the spear. By a sweeping movement of 

 the wrist and forearm the spear is discharged, and as the 



