Quote:Conclusion: Fundibularius is certainly right to say the Eburones used the sling (perhaps even principally, but certainly in combination with other missile weapons) to harry and outfight and wipe out the Roman legion and a half; the evidence is circumstantial, literary, and archaeological (in the form of sling projectiles; among the handful of archaeologically attested slings, none seem to come from the relevant period, Iron Age France).
What kinds of sling were used by Celtic, or Germano-celtic populations of ca. 54 BC ? Roman-era finds suggest leather straps and cup, as do mediaeval British and Irish finds; the Cortaillod sling (in the right area, but nearly a millenium earlier, and belonging to a different culture altogether) suggests the possibility woven vegetal fibre.
How's that for a summary ?
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Thearos,
sorry, I haven't had the time to check the site lately. I agree with the summary.
Let me add wool as a possible material for Celtic slings. Or other animal (or maybe even human) hair. Just hypothetically, as it is always "in reach" for herdsmen. Or for warriors who like to cut off their enemies' heads.
If we want to be sure about the (continental) Celtic or German sling, however, we'll have to hope for a lucky find from the period in the alpine ice, or in bogs or under water or in a hermetically sealed grave or something similar. It might not be very probable, but who of us, in the 1980s, would have guessed that we would once look into Oetzi the Iceman's face and examine his well-preserved neolithic weapons and tools?
If I remember well, there is a link somewhere on this site to slings depicted on Trajan's column. If any, then for now, in time and space, these could be the "closest" types of "Barbarian" slings to those used in the Gallic Wars - although there are almost 200 years and 2000 km between the events in Gaul and in Dacia.