A leister is a type of spear used for spearfishing.[1]
Leisters are three-pronged with backward-facing barbs, historically often built using materials such as bone and ivory, with tools such as the saw-knife.[2][3] In many cases it could be disassembled into a harpoon allowing for greater functionality.[4]
Leisters have been used by hunter-gatherer cultures throughout the world since the Stone Age and are still used for fishing by indigenous tribes and cultures today.[5] [6]
- ^ "Leister definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary". www.collinsdictionary.com. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
- ^ Painter, Floyd (1983). "Two Basic Paleo-Indian Lithic Traditions Evolving from a Southeastern Hearth (A Revolutionary Idea)". Archaeology of Eastern North America. 11: 65–79. ISSN 0360-1021. JSTOR 40914223.
- ^ "spear / fish-spear". British Museum. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
- ^ Christensen, Marianne; Legoupil, Dominique; Pétillon, Jean-Marc (2016), Langley, Michelle C. (ed.), "Hunter-Gatherers of the Old and New Worlds: Morphological and Functional Comparisons of Osseous Projectile Points", Osseous Projectile Weaponry: Towards an Understanding of Pleistocene Cultural Variability, Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology, Springer Netherlands, pp. 237–252, doi:10.1007/978-94-024-0899-7_16, ISBN 9789402408997
- ^ Kidder, Norm (2013). "Spears, Weirs and Traps". Primitive Ways. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
- ^ Lorenzi, Rossella (2015-04-30). "Stone Age People Hooked Eels Like Modern Fishermen". Seeker. Retrieved 2019-04-01.