2nd Annual Archeolympics
Primitive Skills Competition
February 7, 2009

SHUMLA, Seminole Canyon State Park and Historic Site, and Amistad National Recreation Area announce the 2nd Annual Archeolympics! The Archeolympics primitive skills competition is open to all and is focused on having fun while learning about ancient lifeways.

Events allow individual competitors to be judged on accuracy, throwing spears using atlatls (spear-throwers). Teams—perfect for scout troops and university anthropology clubs—can compete in an atlatl accuracy competition as well. Those making their own atlatls can vie for the craftsmanship award. The rabbit stick competition challenges contestants to hit targets representing small game. Competitors will see who is the fastest to make a fire in the friction fire-starting race!

Prizes or certificates will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in Youth (age 12 and below) and Adult (ages 13+) categories in all events. Atlatls, darts (throwing spears for the atlatl), and rabbit sticks will be available for use by competitors who do not bring their own equipment. Friction fire race competitors must bring their own fire-starting kit, see below.

Visitors of all ages are invited to come out for educational demonstrations, to try the atlatl and rabbit stick on a practice range, and to enjoy the park's tours and exhibits.

Other things to do that weekend at Seminole Canyon State Park and Historic Site include: tours of Fate Bell rock shelter which contains 4000 year old Native American rock art, including figures carrying atlatls ($5, tours at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.); longer, more rugged hikes in the park's canyons (Saturday's all day Presa Canyon Tour ($25) and Sunday's half-day Upper Canyon Tour ($12)) are scheduled for that weekend as well, but require making reservations with the park in advance (432-292-4464) and a high level of fitness. The park also features about 8 miles of hike and bike trails. The Rock Art Foundation leads a tour to the nearby White Shaman site on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ($10, www.rockart.org).

REGISTRATION AND FEES
All park visitors (including Archeolympics competitors) must pay the park entry fee of $3 per person at the park office upon arrival. Competitors must show their entrance-fee receipt at the competition registration table when checking in.

The individual registration fee of $5 registers one adult or youth competitor for all individual events.

The team registration fee of $5 registers one team of up to 5 people of any age to compete in the Team Atlatl event. Participants do not need to also register as individuals to be members of a team. Teams pay the registration fee even if some or all of their team members are also registered to compete individually. Participants may be members of more than one team.

INDIVIDUAL EVENTS
Individual Atlatl Accuracy
Each contestant will throw three darts from each of 2 distances. Scoring will be as follows: Dart sticks in outer area of target = 1 point; sticks in middle area = 2 points; sticks in bulls eye = 3 points. Darts that hit on the line between target areas are scored for the higher point-value area. Darts that bounce out of the target score 0, as do darts that stick in the hay bales but miss the target itself.

Atlatl Craftsmanship
Many participants will prefer to make and use their own atlatls. Each registered participant will receive an Atlatl Craftsmanship Entry Form and one each Youth (12 and under) and Adult (13 and up) ballots.

Entry: Atlatls entered in the Atlatl Craftsmanship category can not be made from a commercial kit and must be the work of the person entering the item. Some assistance (such as a father helping a son with carving) is acceptable, but atlatls that are not entirely the work of one person need to list the names, ages and contributions of the workers, per the instructions on the Entry Form. Youth atlatls must be at least 75% the work of the Youth, or they should be instead be entered in the Adult category.

Judging: All atlatls entered in the Craftsmanship category will be on display for a designated 15-minute period. An Atlatl Craftsmanship Entry Form must accompany each atlatl or it will be disqualified. During the display time, each registered participant will cast a ballot for their favorite Adult and Youth atlatls, other than their own. Participants may not vote for their own atlatl.

Rabbit-Stick Throwing
Participants may use their own rabbit sticks or one that is provided. Each participant will throw three times at stationary targets from each of 2 different distances. Rabbit-stick targets are volleyballs set just above ground level on low cones. To be scored, a hit must knock the ball off the cone. Each valid hit is worth 1 point. Contestants will make three throws from each distance for a maximum score of 6 points.

Friction Fire-starting Race
(Simple Hand Drill or Thumb-Loop-Assisted Hand Drill Only)
Competitors must create their tinder bundles and have their gear ready prior to the event’s start time. At the command "READY," competitors place their hearth boards, spindles, and tinder bundles on the ground in front of them and rest both hands on their knees. When the judges see that all competitors are ready, the command "START" is given and timing begins. The first competitor to achieve a viable flame (not just smoke or an ember — those are just the beginning!) wins.

First 1st-, 2nd-, and 3rd-Place awards will be given in Youth (12 and under) and Adult (13 and up).

TEAM ATLATL
Teams are composed of 2 to 5 people, of any combination of ages. Each team throws 5 darts from each of 2 throwing distances, for a total of 10 darts. Groups—such as scout groups, university anthropology clubs, families, or businesses—may wish to compete as teams. Throws will be scored the same as in the Individual Atlatl category above. The number of darts thrown per person at each distance varies with team size, see below; teams decide amongst themselves who will throw more or fewer darts at each distance.

2-person team:
one person throws 3 darts, the other throws 2 darts

3-person team:
two people throw 2 darts each, one throws 1 dart

4-person team:
three people throw 1 dart each, one throws 2.

5-person team:
1 dart per person at each throwing distance

A tie for first place will be resolved by a tiebreaker round (or rounds).

EQUIPMENT REGULATIONS
Atlatls

• For the atlatl accuracy and craftsmanship competitions, atlatls may be made of natural materials such as wood or modern materials such as fiberglass and aluminum.
  
  
• The atlatls provided for public use are constructed of wood.

Darts

• For accuracy, competition darts may be made of natural or modern materials.
  
  
• Darts may not be tipped with flaked stone, razor, or other hunting points for safety, metal target points are fine. Targets will be cardboard affixed to hay bales, so points do not need to be sharp to penetrate (the blunt head of a bolt glued into a cane shaft usually penetrates several inches into hay).
  
  
• The darts provided for public use will probably be made of 48-inch long unfletched wooden dowels with a bolt set into the nose for balance and durability.

Rabbit Sticks

• Rabbit sticks must be made of natural wood or plywood. Other materials (e.g., twine, sinew, glues, fiberglass packing tape) may be used to reinforce the weapon. Rabbit sticks or boomerangs made primarily of plastic, fiberglass, or metal will not be allowed.

• The simple fire drill and the thumb-loop-assisted simple fire drill are the only allowed fire-starting methods for the contest. Other methods such the fire plow or mechanically assisted techniques such as the bow drill and pump drill are not allowed. An earlier version of the rules that may appear in several news outlets says simple hand drills are the only type which will be accepted (no thumb loops), but this has been changed.
  
  
• Contestants must supply all friction fire hand-drill sets. All materials must be natural items that would have been available to ancient peoples, but are not limited to resources that are native to Texas or the Americas. No dryer-lint tinder! Wooden dowel spindles and board hearthboards will be grudgingly accepted by the judges, but are cheesy.

EVENT SCHEDULE
10:00 a.m. Begin registration, practice range opens for public use and registered competitors can use competition range for practice. Public demonstrations begin.

1:00 p.m. Begin individual atlatl and rabbit stick events.

2:00 p.m. Begin team atlatl event.

3:00 p.m. End all atlatl and rabbit stick events.

3:15 p.m. Friction fire-starting race.

3:30 p.m. Score sheets are tallied. All contestants meet at registration table to find out if tiebreaker matches are needed.

4:00 p.m. Awards presented.

RESOURCES:
How to build an atlatl:
http://www.nps.gov/amis/historyculture/upload/Atlatl.pdf (PDF file)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTatpBIdTmQ&feature=related

How to build atlatl darts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_zkAdHrU_A&feature=related

Atlatl accuracy tips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhrJ6kaojwM

How to build a rabbit stick:
There is an excellent series of short articles on rabbit stick construction and tuning in Primitive Technology: A Book of Earth Skills (1999), edited by David Wescott, beginning on page 210. (These articles follow a nice series on atlatls. This is a superb book!)

How to start fire with the simple hand drill:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF9GiK_T4PA
Two Texas materials, not mentioned in the video, that make excellent fire-starting kits are yucca and sotol bloomstalks, but there are many others as well. Cedar bark rubbed between the hands into fine pieces makes superb tinder bundle material. Cattail fluff mixed with dry grass is good too (experiment with grass/fluff ratios to get it right).

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
SHUMLA (432) 292-4848, Jack Johnson jjohnson@shumla.org, or Seminole Canyon State Park and Historic Site (432) 292–4464.