I found this short article about a Greek funeral urn with a picture of a Slinger on it when i was attempting to find some info on Celtic/Scottish/viking Slings - There must be something somewhere  :-/

Anyway Its not much but hopefully its of some interest -

http://www.archaeology.co.uk/first-five-years/greece-massacre-at-paros.htm

tried to find a bit more about it, could only find this

http://www.archaeology.co.uk/first-five-years/greece-massacre-at-paros.htm

Great find!

I found this, that dates it to 730 BC: http://www.archaeology.org/0501/abstracts/greece.html

and of course they are using the proper greek launch. they better be.

slingbadger wrote on Jun 27^th, 2009 at 1:15pm:

and of course they are using the proper greek launch. they better be.

If they could tell us what the proper Greek style was, that would be a bonus :)

David Morningstar wrote on Jun 27^th, 2009 at 1:23pm:

slingbadger wrote on Jun 27th, 2009 at 1:15pm: and of course they are using the proper greek launch. they better be. If they could tell us what the proper Greek style was, that would be a bonus :)

Even that presupposes that all "greeks" used the same style, even from the same starting position. Quite likely they were as varied in their tastes as we are today.

Excellent find ! This must be one of the earliest representations of slings, after the Mycenaean rhyton known in C19th, that shows a siege scene (maybe C12th BC ?).

Good to know it was of some interest  :) - i'll keep looking

Recently I looked a bit at this (F. Croissant, "Batailles géométriques pariennes", in Alba della città, l'alba delle immagine ?)

The context: a nekropolis with 150 jars, each containing cremated remains of one young male, and topped with a skyphos (drinking cup). The cups and jars / urns are individualized. This particular war burial (probably) later turned into the main cemetery for ancient Paros.

Two vases stand out, A and B, decorated with battle scenes. They probably date to ca. 700 BC, judging by the style. They may  have been painted specially for the burial.

A. Shows a disorderly fight, with a big figure with a special shield killing unarmed men, next to a grazing goat. A raid, about to be repelled by reinforcements ? Cavalry and even chariots involved

B. shows three scenes
1. A burial scene. Oddly, a man is pointing an arrow at the deceased man's head.
2. A scene with a body btw two heavy armed fighters.
3. A battle scene:
on the left, lots of a heavy infantry, cavalry, and two archers, both helmeted, one shielded
in the middle, a dead body, probably one of the archers
on the right, slingers, and a few heavy infantry.

Pretty unclear if these are real battles, or myth; the slingers are quite unique. It;s not clear who's attacking and defending (e.g. are the slingers a raiding party, being finished off by parian troops ? Or are the heavies etc on the left the invaders, and the slingers the Parians who are desperately trying to keep them at bay ?)

Perhaps linked to an attack on Paros by its neighbour and enemy, Naxos, and a siege or assault on the town, along with raids in the countryside.

Vase A

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Vase B

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Thanks Thearos!
Don't we have the same picture (the 2nd, that with the slingers) in our Pictures section?
Wait I'll take the link...
Here it is http://slinging.org/index.php?mact=Album,m5,default,1&m5albumid=4&m5returnid=53&page=53 first line, 2nd pic.
Thanks for having contextualized it!
Greetings,
Mauro.