I wondered from time to time if the sling really was used ALL around the world. I searched Japanese and Chinese slingers, nothing so far.

No the sling wasn't used all round the world.

It developed almost exclusively in herding and fishing communities.

And before anyone mentions native americans. The tribes we call plains tribes were actually coastal tribes who moved into the interior after the original plains tribes were wiped out by disease bought by the earliest europaens.

It's one reason they used to drive whole herds of bison over cliffs - they didn't have the bond with the animals that the original plains indians had.

Isn't the woomera the thing you swing round your head to send long distance messages ?
Got one somewhere my aunt sent me from australia. 

The chinese and japanese issue is quite different and most likely cultural.

Both countries developed long lasting civilisation much earlier than most countries. And in both cultures the common man was treated as little more than a slave with any signs of weapon ownership being stamped on in an often fatal manner.

So while it's possible that herders dod use slings, they would most likely never have been developed beyond herding usages. 

Though in that case you would have expected the monks to develop sling usage as part of martial art practices.
Most chinese martial arts weapons are based on farming implements.

I've visited the ban po neolithic village museum in xi'an. In many ways it's more impressive than the close by terracotta warriors exhibition.
As it shows a level of tehnical prowess and civilisation that was thousands of years ahead of the western world.
No slings.

It would be interesting to see if there was any other correlation besides animal herding to explain why some cultures used it and some didnt.

Australia is sort of an abberration. They also didnt have the bow which you could make a good case for being the best primitive weapon ever created for a post megafauna world. So maybe there is an unknown factor there.

CA, you're thinking of a bullroarer for the message device. Comes in handy for waking people up, too.

There is at least this old thread mentioning slings in japan.  http://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1243702863/0

The sling in Lovelock Cave is several thousand years old, it was also found with Tule reed duck decoys, leading a lot of people to think the sling may have bee used for hunting waterfowl.

Buffalo jumps in North America date back at least 12,000 years and were used up to around 1500, when the Native Americans first got horses.  Lewis and Clarke describe how a western tribe still did drives in 1805.

Chasing critters off a cliff or into a swamp to immobilize them is a pretty ancient practice, there are sites in southern France and Spain that also show this practice.

So, while some herding groups may have used it for herding animals, it was around with groups that didn't domesticate herd animals.

And while the natives in South America were familiar with the bow and arrow, Pizarro reported the Incas used the sling as their primary distance weapon.  They had llamas but they aren't exactly noted as being a herd animal.

Curious Aardvark wrote on Aug 23^rd, 2017 at 8:04am:


Yes, we are here in Tibetan areas in Western China and Tibetan herders are still using the slings to herd Yak and sheep.