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Sling Defence of Iron Age Hillforts (Read 49161 times)

mile-end

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Re: Sling Defence of Iron Age Hillforts
Reply #90 - Jun 27^th, 2012 at 5:07am

C_A, ref your post of May 3. It appears from Caesar that in the very late Iron Age they did do the "completely surround the fort" tactic, in serious warfare, followed by burning the gates. My guess for other cases, though, is that the hillfort defences were enough to keep short-term raiders out for a while and that the limited water supply wasn't therefore too much of a problem. Some sites have ponds, and they could collect runoff rain from the thatches etc, but real dew ponds have puddled clay linings to keep the water in, so would have been found by archaeologists. Pete

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mile-end

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Re: Sling Defence of Iron Age Hillforts
Reply #91 - Aug 6^th, 2012 at 5:02am

Hi All,

I've been going through a "fallow" period, including spending some time on an excavation of a hillfort in Wales (hard work!).
I'm now getting back to organising the slinging experiment.

To do the experiment, I have to go through a lot of "uninteresting" work. There's preparing targets, the bureaucracy around the site permissions, and more bureaucracy around the Safety Plan and so on. So I'm keen to make sure that it is going to work before I do all that.

One show-stopper could be if I can't get enough expert slingers to make it a real balanced experiment, so it would help me a great deal if those of you in Britain could let me know if you're prepared to volunteer for a day. You'd spend several hours slinging in a fine landscape in southern England, to a pre-arranged plan. It should be interesting, especially if you're into the ancient use of slings.

If you think you can do this, please drop me an email or a PM to say so. By all means ask questions. If I can help with arrangements, I will.

Many thanks in advance,

Pete

Pete Robertson

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Mauro Fiorentini past-moderator Offline Forge your future with the hammer of your mind! Posts: 3442 Ancona, Italy. Gender:	Re: Sling Defence of Iron Age Hillforts Reply #92 - Aug 6^th, 2012 at 5:04am Welcome back Pete! Bureaucracy may be annoying but it's going to end sooner or later It's great to hear you again, I'm sure you'll find many volounteers! I'd love to be one of them if only I could reach Britain Greetings, Mauro.
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mile-end Junior Member Offline Student of the Iron Age Posts: 72 Romsey, Hants, UK Gender:	Re: Sling Defence of Iron Age Hillforts Reply #93 - Aug 6^th, 2012 at 5:35am Thanks Mauro. Can't you get over here for a conference or sometrhing, maybe the Prehistoric Society Euro conference next Spring?
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David Morningstar Slinging.org Moderator Offline Slinging Rocks! Posts: 3419 UK	Re: Sling Defence of Iron Age Hillforts Reply #94 - Aug 6^th, 2012 at 7:26am Weekend or midweek?
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mile-end

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Re: Sling Defence of Iron Age Hillforts
Reply #95 - Aug 6^th, 2012 at 9:11am

It will be a while before it happens, but I hope/expect to be able to chose the dates of the trials to suit the slingers, so either midweek or weekend as is most convenient to you.

It's most likely to be in Dorset - I know that doesn't suit everyone, hence my comment that I will try to help with travel if necessary, so I'm still looking elsewhere, too.

Pete Robertson

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mile-end

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Re: Sling Defence of Iron Age Hillforts
Reply #96 - Jan 15^th, 2013 at 10:13am

I've now got permission from the National Trust to use their hill fort for the experiment. One of the conditions is that I finish by early April, for conservation reasons. I need a bit of time to get ready, so basically that means running the experiment in March.

So, if you are able to spend a few hours slinging at my target on a hill fort in Dorset, please let me know asap.

The target is an adapted bit of golf kit - a driving practice net. We'll be slinging selected round pebbles at it from and to several positions on the ramparts. You have to be prepared to follow the experiment procedure, for scientific reasons and because of commitments I've made about safety (it's a public access place) but that should be part of the interest.

So, please let me know soon. As I said before, if you need help with travel, let me know. (No, Mauro, not air fare from Italy.)

Pete

Pete Robertson

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David Morningstar Slinging.org Moderator Offline Slinging Rocks! Posts: 3419 UK	Re: Sling Defence of Iron Age Hillforts Reply #97 - Jan 15^th, 2013 at 10:46am I am up for it, 100% For your reference, these are slingstones that were recovered from the pit caches at Danebury. The size is three fingerwidths on the long axis. http://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1253972930
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Masiakasaurus past-moderator Offline mah-SEE-a-kah-SOR-us Posts: 6069 Alabama, USA Gender:	Re: Sling Defence of Iron Age Hillforts Reply #98 - Jan 15^th, 2013 at 11:33am How about air fare from the US? Please?! (I'm only kind of joking.)
Back to top	Pikåru wrote on Nov 19^th, 2013 at 6:59pm: Massi - WTF? It's called a sling. You use it to throw rocks farther and faster than you could otherwise. That's all. ~Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily avialable, they will create their own problems.~ IP Logged

mile-end

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Re: Sling Defence of Iron Age Hillforts
Reply #99 - Jan 15^th, 2013 at 11:49am

David,

That's great, thanks. Please pick any day in March except the 16th. Probably best by email.

The Danebury report says the stone (vs clay) shot were 29.5g-109.5g, average 77.99g, mode 69.5g. But other sites apper to have had different sizes. The Danebury ones in the Museum of the Iron Age are rougher than the ones in your picture, which I guess is not surprising.

I'm gathering stones for the experiment and have several different sizes, but 60g-80g seems most likely. The pic shows some in the 60g-69g range.

Pete

IMGP4878_edited-1.jpg (950 KB | )

Pete Robertson

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Mauro Fiorentini past-moderator Offline Forge your future with the hammer of your mind! Posts: 3442 Ancona, Italy. Gender:	Re: Sling Defence of Iron Age Hillforts Reply #100 - Jan 15^th, 2013 at 12:09pm mile-end wrote on Jan 15^th, 2013 at 10:13am: (No, Mauro, not air fare from Italy.) Darn! I swear I'll begin looking for a cheap ticket! When are you going to do the experiment in March?? Have you choose a day already? It's always good to read you Greetings, Mauro.
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mile-end Junior Member Offline Student of the Iron Age Posts: 72 Romsey, Hants, UK Gender:	Re: Sling Defence of Iron Age Hillforts Reply #101 - Jan 15^th, 2013 at 12:54pm Mauro, Pick your day! I hope have up to eight slingers, but only one or two at a time, so I will do it any day in March that's convenient to the slinger. (Except 16th; I'm booked for a conference.) Pete
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David Morningstar Slinging.org Moderator Offline Slinging Rocks! Posts: 3419 UK	Re: Sling Defence of Iron Age Hillforts Reply #102 - Jan 15^th, 2013 at 1:04pm Not March 29-31, but the other weekends should be okay.
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slingbadger Interfector Viris Spurii Offline Don't Badger a Badger Posts: 3220 Akron NY Gender:	Re: Sling Defence of Iron Age Hillforts Reply #103 - Jan 15^th, 2013 at 1:48pm David Morningstar wrote on Jan 15^th, 2013 at 10:46am: I am up for it, 100% For your reference, these are slingstones that were recovered from the pit caches at Danebury. The size is three fingerwidths on the long axis. http://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1253972930 Gee, those look a little familiar.
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David Morningstar Slinging.org Moderator Offline Slinging Rocks! Posts: 3419 UK	Re: Sling Defence of Iron Age Hillforts Reply #104 - Jan 15^th, 2013 at 3:56pm Good times... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW912BD9gZM
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