War Clubs in Southern California: an Interdisciplinary Study of Blunt Force Weapons and Their Impact

Abstract

Previous studies on violence have focused on patterns of trauma based on bioarchaeological studies of human remains or on architectural features such as palisades, towers, and protected locations. Artifacts used as weapons in conflict have received less attention. Most weapons, particularly war clubs, were made wholly of organic materials that decompose, resulting in low visibility in the archaeological record that creates a challenge for reconstructing their form and potential specialized role in conflict. Using an interdisciplinary approach, historically recorded use of clubs was linked with precontact evidence of blunt force trauma to better understand the usage of different types of war clubs found in southern California. War clubs were recreated with replicative experimentation and then tested in biomechanical experiments to measure lethality and to record likely patterns of associated trauma. Patterns of trauma recorded in experiments were representative of trauma patterns seen in pre-contact/proto-historic case studies. As the presence of war clubs in warfare is well-documented across Indigenous North America, this framework for testing tactics and types of weapons permits cross-cultural comparisons to better inform the practices and impact of weapons in human conflict and violence.