length of the shaft. The bâton percé is held in the hand with the solid end held in the hand near the pinkie and the pierced end emerging from the other end of the fist. The loose end of the cord is grasped between thumb and forefinger, and the spear is laid along the bâton percé. The spear may be twisted up to one and a half turns, which serves to stabilize the spear during the throw. The bâton percé is held over the shoulder, and thrown overhand. The length of the bâton percé serves to increase the thrower's leverage, providing more speed, and the cord acts as it does in a Swiss arrow, extending the leverage further. Use of the bâton percé in this way results in a 127% increase in range over the same hand-thrown spear. Experimental observations Most bâton percé examples are curved to some degree, either from the natural curve of the antler from which they are made, or as the result of deliberate alteration. Straight or curved handles both produce similar gains in range, but the experimenters found that curved handles provided better ergonomics than a straight handle, with left-handed throwers preferring one direction of curve, and right-handed throwers preferring the other. Straight handles had the advantage of being usable by both left and right-handed throwers. While the T or Y shape is not required for use as a spear thrower, an example with a T or Y shape is less sensitive to the direction and amount of twist in the cord, and thus easier to use. Used in the method described, even the bâton percés hole can be dispensed with, though the resulting spear thrower would be far more difficult to load and use. The cord used works well when it is long enough that about of cord extends from the hole of the bâton percé to the knot on the spear. Longer cords up to may provide higher velocities. Cord attachment points can vary from the middle of the spear to the center of mass, depending on the length, and a significantly front-heavy spear works best. The spear should be long enough to project about in front of the bâton percé when ready to throw. When using a long spear, a longer bâton percé can also be used, though a short version works as well. The longer bâton percé may provide additional velocity