Wooden Swords in Ancient North America?
As an update, this year I also learned about related club-like weapons used north of Mesoamerica. For example, the New Georgia Encyclopedia has an article about the archaeology of the ancient Indians in the Georgia area entitled “Indian Warfare.” This article discusses weapons and describes “the atassa, which was actually a wooden sword shaped like a pirate’s cutlass.” A helpful drawing is also provided. The word “sword” in this article is not Mormon spin. A related article is “Warclubs and Falcon Warriors: Martial Arts, Status, and the Belief System in Southeastern Mississippian Chiefdoms” by Wayne W. Van Horne, Kennesaw State College, paper presented at the annual meeting of the Central States Anthropological Society, Beloit, Wisconsin, March 20, 1993. This scholarly overview has the following passage:During the Mississippian and early historic periods Southeastern warriors used the warclub as their primary weapon, and they were experts in using it. The wide variety of warclub types
