In the Iliad, Homer mentions the Locrians," who wear no armor and trust in their bows and their well twisted wool(slings)". Sounds kind of like Peruvian type slings! Anyone have more information on this? I saw an Osprey book the other day on the city of Troy, there was a photo of a pile of slingstones that was dug up in and around the city. They looked about the size of an egg or billard ball.
Johnny

Wow!  That's pretty to read out loud.  Ulrica the poet/artist will like it.    mgreenfield

Here is another translation by Robert Fagles:

They had no love for stand-and-fight encounters-
had no crested bronze helmets to guard their heads,
no balanced shields in their grasp, no ashen spears,
only their bows and slings of springy, twisted wool.
Trusting these, they followed their chief to Troy,
shooting with these, salvo on pelting salvo,
they tore the Trojan battle lines to pieces.
So the men in heavy armor fought at the front,
they grappled Trojans and Hector helmed in bronze
while Locrians slung from the rear, safe, out of range,
till the Trojan troops forgot their lust for blood
as showering arrows raked their ranks with panic.

I think I like this translation better! Hope ya'll like it!!

Beautiful text and curiously there is not more sling literary references about the Greeks of those mithological times narrated by Homer that the two that appears in Iliad, and this one you mention is the best. Nevertheless  Homer didn´t live in those times, so the references may be only fiction. More interest have the archeological finds such this pile of slingstones that was dug up in and around the city of Troy. Early excavations in Troy gave some objects that were erroneously interpreted as sling proyectiles, but surely this one is more recent. Has the picture and text more information about, like the excavations date, etc?. I´d like to have a look on the Osprey publication if you remember the title, serie, etc.

Hondero

Thanks Johnny, I´ll try to get the book. I´ve found in the net some information about recent excavations at Troy and as I suspected there have been differents campaigns along the times. In the campaign of 1990 and following years they found a reservoir of sling proyectiles in one of the gates of the city. And curiously the excavation was directed for Manfred Korfmann, the famous (for all us) author of "The sling as a weapon" 

No, I´m sorry, but you can get it in Google looking for "Troia" that is the German name of Troy and the name of the archaeological project. In one of the years that appears there is an abstract by Korfmann that mention briefly the slingstones. Just to go over some years till you find it.

Hondero

I´ve found again the exact link to the Korfmann abstract:

http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/troia/st/two/ab/english/ab7eng.html

He mention briefly the find of slingstones and a fragment of a silver vase from the epoch with slingers represented in it (I have the picture).

Here's a picture of the vase and a fuzzy line drawing to help you make it out.  These are the best pictures I could find online.  It's interesting to see that the slingers start by holding the pouch over their heads.