I understand there is a growing body of evidence indicating slings were developed during the paleolithic. Can this be true? Given their simplicity of design and effectiveness, it makes perfect sense, but how can this be proved?

I believe that the antiquity of the sling can only be alleged, unless we find some accurate wall painting or something similar (depot of stones for example; signs of stone impact on animal bones, whatever).

The problems are: how many Paleolithic evidences have been studied?
How many archaeologists know how does a sling works, and which traces it leaves on bones?
How many archaeologists know how a sling bullet looks like, so that they can recognize one with reasonable certainty?
And how many of them are currently analyzing Paleolithic evidences?

And so on... but I personally believe that the sling concretize such an elementary phisical concept that its creation during the Paleolithic can be assumed (at least I assume it without remorse  :) ).
Greetings,
Mauro.

 The earliest concrete evidence I know of is at Bagor, India where spherical pecked stones were interpreted as slingstones. The article only says that they were found in phases I and II of the site, which date from 5000-2800BC and 2800-600BC. Clay projectiles at Hamoukar - in modern-day Syria - date to around 3500BC.

 That said, I agree that the technology would likely be around well before then, probably extending from the paleolithic.

Here is a three part series I found on Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaIT9HcnVqg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmIS1-kQFHo&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONotI4tA7Y4&feature=related

Ye anciente slings and even modern ones aren't really built to last, at least not long enough for any archaeologist to discover it some few thousand years later. The sling may be much older than we can currently date it, but we'll never find those old, old slings that have long since frayed, broken, discarded, decayed etc.

Rumors says that slings has been in use some 80'000 years ago, but I've been unable to contact that historician yet  >:(
Stay tuned for further information!
Greetings,
Mauro.

I am still fascinated by the history of the sling. In Guam, the sling was important to the Chamorro people. The official seal of the island is in the shape of a sling stone. If the Chamorro people are of Austronesian descent (southeast asia) and came to what is now Micronesia around 4000BC, did they develop the technology after they arrived, independent of any other culture or did they bring the technology with them? If they brought the technology with them, couldn't it stand to reason that the technonolgy was well in use in many parts of the world by many cultures like southeast asian cultures before 4000BC and long before projectiles found dating to 3500BC? Consider the use of slings throught the Americas. Cultures here developed totally independent of those areas where historical evidence has been discovered like in the middle east. It seems to me that the technology of the sling was developed at a common time, long, long ago, when the human population was much smaller, then spread out as the people spread out. Asian, European, African, American, Islander cultures all used slings.

---

IMO slings have been around for a lot longer than we may think. Prehistoric men were just that...prehistoric. They had all the mental faculties we do and were not stupid by any stretch of the imagination. The mere fact they were able to survive and thrive without our "modern conveniences" speaks volumes about their capabilities. If someone discover's the remnants of a sling that was made 80,000 years ago, it wouldn't suprise me in the least.

The fascinating thing about slings is that they appear quite literally all over the world. It seems every culture in every location at some point had slings. If we're gonna go by the standard-accepted "Out of Africa" theory, then slings were probably invented by early humans before they crossed into the deserts of Northern African and the Middle East. Hell, maybe having a decent hunting implement was what let them spread so fast and so far.

It occured to me the other day (while tramping up and down the defensive trench around a 3000 year old hillfort actually) that technology really started with the use and invention of manufactured cordage.
And the sling will have been created fairly shortly there-after.

But none of the old slings will have survived - the ancients were well ahead of the game in that all their slings would have been 100% biodegradable :-)

I would love to know what was going through the mind of the first sling maker when the idea of making a sling came about. How would you like to be responsible for creating something so universal and long lasting. Something that would be used for hunting, shepherding and war for thousands of years afterwards.  

Morphy wrote on Mar 10^th, 2012 at 2:40pm:

I would love to know what was going through the mind of the first sling maker when the idea of making a sling came about. How would you like to be responsible for creating something so universal and long lasting. Something that would be used for hunting, shepherding and war for thousands of years afterwards.

He was being nagged by his wife who demanded better food fare. He might have been thinking, "I hope this finally shuts her up..."

wrote on Mar 10^th, 2012 at 2:57pm:

Morphy wrote on Mar 10th, 2012 at 2:40pm: I would love to know what was going through the mind of the first sling maker when the idea of making a sling came about. How would you like to be responsible for creating something so universal and long lasting. Something that would be used for hunting, shepherding and war for thousands of years afterwards.   He was being nagged by his wife who demanded better food fare. He might have been thinking, "I hope this finally shuts her up..."

Didn't every home have an emergency "wife-club" laying about the house for such scenarios?

Maybe the poor fella just got sick of throwing rocks by hand.

There was this theory around here about tying cords to stones to aid in throwing them, but since cordage was complicated technology someone invented a way to retain the cord when the stone was slung away so it could be used with many stones instead of just one.
timann

timann wrote on Mar 11^th, 2012 at 5:16am:

There was this theory around here about tying cords to stones to aid in throwing them, but since cordage was complicated technology someone invented a way to retain the cord when the stone was slung away so it could be used with many stones instead of just one. timann

I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination but I would think that early man, able to use a simple stone flake to butcher an animal would also be able to cut strips of hide and make single strand cordage. The act of twisting and weaving strands of material of course would have come later. I would also think that even hair and sinew would have been some of the first types of cordage used and readily available. At least hair would even if it was your own.

timann wrote on Mar 11^th, 2012 at 5:16am:

There was this theory around here about tying cords to stones to aid in throwing them, but since cordage was complicated technology someone invented a way to retain the cord when the stone was slung away so it could be used with many stones instead of just one. timann

To me that sounds as likely as anything. Although Pikaru's idea of the nagging wife... who knows?   ;)

I just got a funny image of paleolithic man tending to his paleolithic barracks, with just piles of these rocks everywhere, each with a bit of string roped 'round it  ;D

... I assure you, in my head it looks very, very hilarious.

The oldest sling we've ever found was 40,000 years old, from Lovelock cave.

I think atlatls are based off of slings, which are estimated to be 50,000 years old; so I wouldn't be surprised if the sling was at least 51,000. I'm not sure what the rate of technological increase back then was. It could have taken only a couple of years to further develop the sling into an atlatl, or it could have taken 20,000 more.

xxkid123 wrote on Mar 11^th, 2012 at 6:22pm:

The oldest sling we've ever found was 40,000 years old, from Lovelock cave. I think atlatls are based off of slings, which are estimated to be 50,000 years old; so I wouldn't be surprised if the sling was at least 51,000. I'm not sure what the rate of technological increase back then was. It could have taken only a couple of years to further develop the sling into an atlatl, or it could have taken 20,000 more.

I remember reading somewhere that the culture whom invented the atlatl in its original form was pretty much only human culture on record to not use slings.

I don't remember where I read it though, so for all I know it could have been in "Big Book of Blatant Lies vol.ii."

xxkid123 wrote on Mar 11^th, 2012 at 6:22pm:

I'm not sure what the rate of technological increase back then was. It could have taken only a couple of years to further develop the sling into an atlatl, or it could have taken 20,000 more.

The rate was very slow during the Neanderthal era, as testified by flint tools that remains the same for almost 200'000 years, and compared to the Homo Sapiens Sapiens era, during which these tools evolved from flint to metal in a mere 25'000 years.
Obviously, a simple technology require a simple mind to be developed (note that I'm not diminishing our ancestor's intelligence, absolutely not!), and I wouldn't be surprised if the sling was adopted almost everywhere in a very short range of time.
Plus, what I personally believe after having done some anthropological analysis on the sling, is that this technology is so simple that multiple cultures can achieve it even if there're no commercial or military contacts between them.
There's a theory about this matter but I can't remember its name!
Greetings,
Mauro.

PS
kid, would you please tell us more about this Lovelock cave? I'm going to do some researches, but would you give us more info, I'd be really grateful - in public or via PM as you like.

Ehhhh I noticed I wrote down 40,000 years, not 4,000. Although I would not be surprised if the sling was used 40,000 years ago.

Mauro, I don't know as much as I would like, but I can always recommend good old wikipedia to give a basic explanation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovelock_Cave

Long story short, It is a cave in Nevada, USA that was once used be a shelter for humans around 4,000 years ago during winter months. It's unique as it allowed thing stored in it to be nearly perfectly preserved. There are plenty of textiles in it.

Here's another article on the lovelock cave sling
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/276537?uid=3739560&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21100658121386

The motivation for the sling, as with every other innovation was to impress and get a woman. It's why we do most things.

Thank you kid, I'll look for this cave soon!
The most ancient evidences of slinging in Italy are (to my knowledge) some clay bullets dating to the end of Neolithic (about 4500 - 4000 years ago), but I really have to analyze cave engravings in Northern Italy and, more important, I have to contact that historian who wrote about slinging in the Paleolithic (80'000 years ago).
Greetings,
Mauro.

wrote on Mar 11^th, 2012 at 11:21pm:

The motivation for the sling, as with every other innovation was to impress and get a woman. It's why we do most things.

the main motivation is to eat and not starve to death. Cordage helped enormously in this respect.
And so would slings. Your 'food' is a in a tree, a sling allows you to hunt animals that would hithertoo have been exceptionally difficult to catch.

Now obviously the hunter with the most meat, is going to attract the most mates.

But with no food - you just die. So I'd put food above mating :-)

Me too, even if in harsh time it may happen that your wife turns into food  ;D
Greetings,
Mauro.

Mauro Fiorentini wrote on Mar 12^th, 2012 at 3:25pm:

Me too, even if in harsh time it may happen that your wife turns into food  ;D Greetings, Mauro.

I like the way you think. Remind me not to invite you to my zombie apocalypse shelter.  :)

Curious Aardvark wrote on Mar 12^th, 2012 at 3:19pm:

wrote on Mar 11th, 2012 at 11:21pm: The motivation for the sling, as with every other innovation was to impress and get a woman. It's why we do most things. the main motivation is to eat and not starve to death. Cordage helped enormously in this respect. And so would slings. Your 'food' is a in a tree, a sling allows you to hunt animals that would hithertoo have been exceptionally difficult to catch. Now obviously the hunter with the most meat, is going to attract the most mates. But with no food - you just die. So I'd put food above mating :-)

New bumper sticker: "HE WHO HAS THE MOST MEAT, MATES"

CHowitzer wrote on Mar 11^th, 2012 at 7:23pm:

I remember reading somewhere that the culture whom invented the atlatl in its original form was pretty much only human culture on record to not use slings. I don't remember where I read it though, so for all I know it could have been in "Big Book of Blatant Lies vol.ii."

That would be the native Australians and their invention of the woomera, a type of spear thrower.

Hey Pikaru, your bumper sticker could be taken several different ways. ::)

bigkahuna wrote on Mar 15^th, 2012 at 12:28am:

Hey Pikaru, your bumper sticker could be taken several different ways. ::)

That's the pure genius of it... All part of my plan to take over the world.

ArchaeoMan wrote on Feb 3^rd, 2012 at 9:05pm:

The earliest concrete evidence I know of is at Bagor, India where spherical pecked stones were interpreted as slingstones. The article only says that they were found in phases I and II of the site, which date from 5000-2800BC and 2800-600BC. Clay projectiles at Hamoukar - in modern-day Syria - date to around 3500BC.  That said, I agree that the technology would likely be around well before then, probably extending from the paleolithic.

Following up on that Indian sub-continent connection, there is a review article from 2004 in Evolutionary Anthropology volume 13 by Professor Emeritus Kenneth Kennedy of Cornell, in which he states that cave art from Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh illustrates the use of the sling.  These images are impossible to correlate to an exact date, as the site was used continuously for a very long stretch of time, but the Mesolithic burials at the site have been conclusively dated to 4480-3290 years BP.  The upper paleolithic layers have not yet been accurately dated.

This isn't as concrete as slingstones, of course, but the dates for the mesolithic burials certainly jive with the finds at Baghor.  Interestingly, mesolithic burials at Baghor II go back to 10,646 BP.  So, if there is cultural continuity within the mesolithic finds in the Baghor II site, it may indicate the presence of the sling within the culture for nearly double the period for which manufactured slingstones have yet been found.

We'll probably never know for sure, but what is knowing compared to dreaming? It's nice to think about the sling as one of the most ancient weapons and after so many years, from then until now we here in the modern world communicating to brothers across the globe and are faithfully holding onto this skill. It's very cool when you think about it, almost like the spirits of those before you are in each sling, in each throw, in each stone and in each conversation about how to make it better.

I agree. I'm a fan of stone age people and am convinced that the technology behind a sling is so simple that they could easily achieve it.
Greetings,
Mauro.