Talk:Amentum

Pictures and diagrams, please!
I would like to see pictures of what they look like and how they are used. The spear-thrower(atlatl etc) fits on to the rear end, but according to this article the Amentum fits on at the centre of gravity, which is where one would hold a javelin anyway, so I cannot see how it improves distance or power. Video of the comparison between with and without amentum would be good and the twisted rifling too. Thanks,

IceDragon64 (talk) 21:40, 14 October 2015 (UTC)

throwing string ?
I heard of a term throwing string. Would that be amentum? 95.178.215.9 (talk) 13:39, 10 February 2020 (UTC)

Ressurection
It was also used for throwing war darts. It seems it was extensively used by the Irish (for throwing war darts, 15/16th century, Gallowglass, captain thomas lee) but in a slightly modified way. They tied the strap to the dart so when thrown the strap would fly off with the dart. The strap also had (prepared in advance) loop for index finger. That was more appropriate for the battle because attaching the strap to the javelin the old way (strap being reused; similar to swiss arrow, but it is not necessary to make additional loops after the first loop secures the knot that is inserted in a notch) was fiddly and could be time consuming. There is "evidence" (a viking saga) that vikings used it on occasions. It seems Alexander's troops used it. 95.178.215.9 (talk) 14:18, 10 February 2020 (UTC)


 * It was widely used in Europe - Greece, Rome, Vikings, Irish - probably others in between. A dart, incidentally, in the Irish case means what we would call a javelin.  Javelin didn't gain its modern meaning till later.Monstrelet (talk) 18:22, 10 February 2020 (UTC)

First paragraph needs correction
In the first paragraph, the name of the device is given as either amentum or ankyle. However, the two Greek translations or transliteration are the same Greek word except for the breath mark. An expert needs to supply a Greek equivalent for amentum or revise the first sentence. 2600:8806:6200:4200:150C:F71E:6C80:B6F3 (talk) 15:56, 19 January 2024 (UTC)