| A weapon that traces its origins back to prehistoric rimes and was used then to slay wolly mammoths may now be added to the arsenals of hunters in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Game Commission is now drafting possible regulations to allow hunters to use what is known as the atlatl. The atlatl is a small wooden device that propels a six foot dart up to 80 miles per hour. The Commission may vote in January and make a final decision in April regarding the use of the atlatl. It is not clear which animals might be hunted with this weapon. People in support of the weapon suggest that it could be used in hunting deer. Atatl is derived from the Aztec world for "throwing board." The atatl works by hunters hooking arrowlike darts into the end of the weapon, which usually is a wooden piece about two feet in length. The leverage of the atatl allows a hunter to throw the five to eight foot darts far faster and farther than they might throw a spear.
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