Limit search to available items
Book Cover
E-book
Author Jones, David E., 1942-

Title Poison arrows : North American Indian hunting and warfare / by David E. Jones
Edition 1st ed
Published Austin : University of Texas Press, 2007

Copies

Description 1 online resource (xix, 113 pages)
Series Book collections on Project MUSE
Contents On plant poisons -- Nonmilitary poisons -- World survey of arrow poisoning -- Arrow poisons of the North American Indians -- Other uses of poisons in warfare -- Paleo-Indian poison use
Summary Biological warfare is a menacing twenty-first-century issue, but its origins extend to antiquity. While the recorded use of toxins in warfare in some ancient populations is rarely disputed (the use of arsenical smoke in China, which dates to at least 1000 BC, for example) the use of "poison arrows" and other deadly substances by Native American groups has been fraught with contradiction. At last revealing clear documentation to support these theories, anthropologist David Jones transforms the realm of ethnobotany in Poison Arrows. Examining evidence within the few extant descriptive accounts of Native American warfare, along with grooved arrowheads and clues from botanical knowledge, Jones builds a solid case to indicate widespread and very effective use of many types of toxins. He argues that various groups applied them to not only warfare but also to hunting, and even as an early form of insect extermination. Culling extensive ethnological, historical, and archaeological data, Jones provides a thoroughly comprehensive survey of the use of ethnobotanical and entomological compounds applied in wide-ranging ways, including homicide and suicide. Although many narratives from the contact period in North America deny such uses, Jones now offers conclusive documentation to prove otherwise. A groundbreaking study of a subject that has been long overlooked, Poison Arrows imparts an extraordinary new perspective to the history of warfare, weaponry, and deadly human ingenuity
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 93-102) and index
Notes Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL
English
Print version record
digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL
In Project MUSE Evidence Based Acquisitions (EBA) Project MUSE
SUBJECT Europäische Zusammenarbeit auf dem Gebiet der Wissenschaftlichen und Technischen Forschung Concerted Action Group on Genetic Improvement of Functional Traits gnd
Subject Indian weapons -- North America.
Indians of North America -- Ethnobotany.
Indians of North America -- Hunting.
Arrow poisons -- North America
Poisonous plants -- North America
Poisonous animals -- North America
Neurotoxic agents -- North America
TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING -- Military Science.
HISTORY -- Military -- Other.
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Ethnic Studies -- Native American Studies.
Arrow poisons
Indian weapons
Indians of North America -- Ethnobotany
Indians of North America -- Hunting
Neurotoxic agents
Poisonous animals
Poisonous plants
Pfeilgift
Waffe
Gift
North America
Nordamerika
Indianer.
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2006024691
ISBN 9780292795389
0292795386