Thearos wrote on Mar 27
th, 2011 at 8:08pm:
There's a problem because there's no mention of lead (or just metal) bullets before Xenophon, which takes us to 400 BC. So maybe the sling bullets were invented ca. 1200 in Cyprus, but stayed localized or forgotten.
My own opinion ? I 've wavered. Lately I thought they were small weights (I seem to remember a few were found on a shipwreck, trading ship), but the one DM shows is pretty sharp for that. So I'm not sure.
When do bronze arrowheads first come into use? The biconical shape was well established in clay sling bullets well into the neolithic. Making them of bronze is an obvious thing to do, the only question is whether you can afford the $$$$.
Perhaps there was a local shortage of lead due to war disrupting trade, so they melted down a bronze statue they had dragged off as booty from somewhere else.