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Source in Spanish: Attach:Apndce IIx.pdf
Return to Table of Contents: http://slinging.org/wiki2/index.php/Main/HistoriaDeLaHonda
THE APPEARANCE OF THE SLING
Although one possible origin could be traced to the Middle Paleolithic, alongside the boleadoras, its presence alongside the atlatl, of similar complexity, is fairly probable. A discouraging obstacle has always been the absence of archaeological remains, which on the other hand is logical if natural stones were used which could not be identified in the archaeological beds, nor would there have existed the need for accumulations of projectiles for organized warfare.
There is, however, a cave art record which points to the possibility of the use of slings in the Upper Paleolithic, which as we have speculated in the main text, would be staff slings. The painting is from the Trois Frères cave, in the French Pyrenees.
Besides the many stuck darts, one notices a multitude of impacts from stones, which similarly to the atlatls must have been thrown from a similar distance and with the same power to wound, which suggests they were strong impacts from a sling and not stones thrown by hand. The bear bleeds profusely from the wounds and the mouth. Another similar painting with fewer impacts is the following:
AN URBAN BATTLE: TELL HAMOUKAR
A walled city of ancient Mesopotamia, northeast of modern Syria, it corresponds to the chalcolithic period, destroyed in a battle around 3,500 B.C. It is the first archeological record of an urban battle, and the city ended up burned and in ruins.
Inside some of the buildings, over 1,000 sling projectiles have been collected, ovoids such as those in the picture below and others spherical of larger size and fewer in number. At another site, a pit for working clay had a group of sling projectiles lined up, which gives evidence that they were being continuously manufactured for the battle. At another site, a projectile seems to be stuck in the stucco of the wall, showing the power of its impact.
The heart of the city was of about 16 hectares [40 acres] and surrounded by a wall three meters thick. However, the ruins extend to around 100 hectares. Cities begin appearing in the south of Mesopotamia about 6,000 years ago but went on spreading to the north. Tell Hamoukar was formed from an accumulation of the remains of older cities upon which the destroyed city was built. Initially, the ancient city was centered upon the processing of obsidian which arrived from the north, from Anatolia (Turkey), making from it utensils and tools which it exported to the rich agricultural cities of the south. A key point on the north-south commercial route, it must have enriched itself considerably, making advisable the construction of its solid wall. The more modern city, well into the copper age, would continue its tradition of making tools to export to the south. However, there must have been frequent conflicts between the agricultural cities of the south and the industrials of the north, a consequence of which was the destruction of this city. In the end, the south would prevail, giving rise to the great Mesopotamian states.
Sources: The University of Chicago and The Syrian Department of Antiquities
NEOLITHIC LEVANTINE SLINGER
Levantino cave art. Covatina del Tossalet del Mas de la Rambla, Villafranca (Castellón). Norberto Mesado Oliver (Burriana Archaeological Museum)
Figure of a hunter who brings down a bird of great size with a sling. The hunter wears complex garb, with short pants, a shirt with straps or fringes, and a two-cornered cap. He carries a weapon in his right hand, which the author rejects as being the traditional bow of the Levantine hunters, but instead interprets as a sling due to its lower end in the form of a receptacle and its upper end in thin strings which suggest being made of rush or braided vegetable fibers. However, the way it is held while running is strange, as if it were a bow; although more realistically, being held, it does not permit our knowing what it is. In addition, the bird is represented with a broken neck and its head twisted and disarticulated, which does not suggest being brought down by an arrow, which does not appear, but by the impact of a stone projectile, which can be clearly seen near the head.
SLING PROJECTILES FROM A LACUSTRINE VILLAGE, Fraser River, British Columbia (Canada)
On the marshlands near the mouth of the Fraser River, there are prehistoric settlements around which appear great quantities of stones the approximate size of a tennis ball, unworked but obviously selected for their shape and size. Given that they are not native to the area, they had to have been brought to the settlements to be used as sling projectiles.
The entire marshland where the settlements were was drained in 1940, and archeological exploration has uncovered the existence of these projectiles at the bottom of the ancient lagoons. They also appear in lesser density towards the center of the lagoons, which indicates that hunting was also done from boats, although it was mainly dome from the banks, given the greater density of projectiles near them. The stones also appear in depth, which indicates that this activity was probably carried out over thousands of years.
ETRUSCAN BIRD HUNTER
In the main text, the detail of an Etruscan painting from the sixth century B.C. is included, representing a slinger shooting at the birds of a lake. It pertains to the tomb of hunting and fishing in the necropolis of Tarquinia:
IRAQ, MOUNT Al-HIBA
Ancient Sumerian city of Lagash. It is on the edge of an always swampy lake, a tributary of the Tigris. The people that live around it today still preserve a kind of life resembling that of 5,000 years ago. Outside the walls of the ancient city, numerous clay projectiles have been excavated, undoubtedly testifying to some battle. Until a few years ago, the youngsters continued making sun-dried, clay projectiles to hunt birds in the swamp with their slings.
Translation by Rockman and 4accord