Yasu(簎) - Yasu

Japanese: やす(簎) - やす

A hunting or fishing tool with a bone, horn or metal stabbing tool attached to the end of a handle. It can also be written as 'fish spear'. The stabbing tip can be barbed or made up of several sharpened sticks tied together. Harpoons are generally classified as those that are thrown to stab prey, or those with three or five prongs, but in archaeology, those with a stabbing part that detaches from the handle once the prey has been stabbed are called harpoons, and those with a stabbing part attached to the handle are called 'yasu'. Regularly shaped ones were made in the latter half of the Paleolithic period, and from the Mesolithic period onwards they can be found all over the world.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

柄の先に付けた骨角あるいは金属製の刺突具が固定されている狩猟･漁労具。魚杈とも書く。先端の突き刺す部分は，逆刺（かえり）をつけたり，幾本かの先の尖った棒を束ねて使うこともある。一般には投じて獲物を刺突するもの，あるいは先が三つ，五つに分かれたものを銛（もり）とするなどの分類がなされるが，考古学では刺突する部分が獲物に刺さると柄から離れるものを銛，柄に固定したものを〈やす〉と呼ぶ。旧石器時代後半には形の整ったものがつくられ，中石器時代以降には世界各地でみることができる。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

<<: Yasu [town] - Yasu

>>: Wild man - Yajin