Pikåru
Interfector Viris Spurii
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Experience teaches only the teachable...
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Colorado USA
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I have returned from the Mother Country if Guam and have seen the sling pictured on the homepage of slinging.org. I'm not sure if everyone knows that the sling on the homepage is Chamorro, but yes, it is.
I would have to say that the most interesting thing about the sling is its size. The size of the slingstone it holds and is pictured with is about the size of a dinner roll, just under six inches from tip to tip. The sling also has a wrist loop and no release knot or tab.
Currently Guam is without a natural history museum but we were able to trace some artifacts down at the Governor's complex and a few private collections around the island. A new museum is going to be built now that the politics surrounding its location has finally been worked out. With exception of a few things, all of the artifacts for the museum are in storage. We tried to get a hold of the curator but apparently he has just retired. Head's up on careers; Guam is in need and in search of a new museum curator.
Woven artifacts. It's a commonly known fact that there are very few organic artifacts that have survived from ancient times. When you factor in the climate, length of foreign occupation and world war, the most common artifacts are made of stone, shell or clay. I asked the young lady manning the small museum at the Governor's complex who made the sling in the display case and if the weaver might still be available. Unfortunately she knew very little about the displays, nothing about the sling and thought it was for fishing because it was in the display case for fishing stuff. There was a narrative card on a different display case, one that didn't have slings or stones that indicated slings were often made of coconut husk fiber or pandanus but this sling was not made of either, at least as far as I could tell.
On a different but related note, near the last day of vacation I lost all of the photos I took which included the detailed photos of the sling. In a panic I was able to go back and take some new photos and the gentleman manning the desk knew a bit more about the sling.
The sling on display is supposed to be one of the most well preserved organic artifacts found on the island and is ballpark dated around 1500ish AD. This sling, along with other artifacts was found under a layer carbon, basically ash from a fire and it is believed that this may have been a factor to why the fiber articles had not decayed away. They were able to soak, treat and clean the fibers enough to keep the sling intact. That's the the short of what was told to me about this sling. The attendant told us that the curator of the museum, along with local weavers believes that the sling may be made from fiber taken from the trunk of the coconut tree.
The museum attendant also spoke of the various size of slingstones found and told us about a large stone weighing approximately 30lbs. A thirty pound stone! Not sure whether that's possible but like with many things lost in history, we can only best guess.
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Acho' Atupat Chamorro Sling (Guam) (Read 79254 times)
