2-741-578 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Spear Thrower, 200 BC-200. Spear throwers improve a spear's range and thrust. The spear was placed against the stone pivot and hurled using the thumb rest, carved as a figure with a skeletal chest, back-bent head, and a severed human head at its rear. This figure, frequent in art, is not well understood, but its appearance here suggests a connection to death. The shaft's carving makes clever use of the bone's marrow cavity.