Yeah, I’ve noticed links are prone to breaking on the forum because it makes them two lines. They’re toy bows from Arnhem land, which curiously would have been the region and time where the slinging photo was taken. No context on the tradition of bows, if any, from that culture.

And I’m not arguing for absence of evidence to be proof, I’m saying it’s just unexplored. We actually have photos and some surviving artifacts (for bows), there’s just been little to no research into the context around them. Morphy, you’re speaking on a matter of if, when it is now more of why, how, and when. Most of the research that has defined our knowledge of aboriginal tools and weapons was done before anyone could have googled this picture, it might have been focused more in other regions, and the sling could have declined to fall under the radar by the time anyone would have cared.

I’ll admit, the photo’s depiction of the sling is bigfoot quality. The sling itself can barely be distinguished, but you can look at the hand, and the notes give an explanation.

Tombelaine, I unfortunately don’t have access to any Australian materials on this. I’d love to get ahold of the book used in the blog (annoyingly not cited). Even if the word for sling was recorded, which it could easily get overlooked or confused with a slingshot, I still don’t know what ethnic group it was that is in the photo. Even Australians would have trouble following many potential leads, as much of the information might be kept somewhere in Darwin.

Morphy wrote on Apr 9^th, 2021 at 4:00am:

The link got split. You have to copy past the full text.

https://australian.museum/learn/cultures/atsi-collection/aboriginal-toys/toy-boo
merangs/

It's left out the "merangs/".

I've noticed that sometimes links end up being too long and the forum doesn't like it for some reason so chops them up.

The bows could be a crudely adapted idea, or they could just be so crude because they were meant for or built by kids. There’s also that picture on the blog that may be Australian aboriginals, or it could just be Torres Strait islanders. To be fair, I think Torres Strait islanders and how they survived are also underrated, so even if that picture was of them it would still be meaningful. The blog says (sources not cited)  that bows would have only been in the Torres Strait and Cape York, so it’s curious that the only bows collected are toys from Arnhem Land further West.

Mersa, that’s fascinating that you were able to confirm that! Do you have any more details on where they were used or any info about them? Aboriginal bows could probably be its own thread.

Back to slinging, we don’t have precolonial evidence for slinging in much of the world. Sub-Saharan Africa does have a few photos and collected slings that survive until today, but no solid pre-colonial evidence. The two ancient slings from the Americas and a sling or two surviving from Egypt are quite unusual finds. Many areas of the world where slings were used, including the parts of Australia in which it was used, might not have the best conditions for preservation. Even then, a sling has to be placed in the right spot for it to get preserved. Written evidence can also confirm pre-contact slinging by discussing it in the first contact, but oftentimes written accounts might be hundreds of years later. For some areas the sling is never mentioned at all even if it’s present, as it depends on whether the writer is impressed by it or dismissive of it.

Since slinging is very rarely the prestigious weapon, it is liable to get ignored even when that group that once used it looks back. For example, slings were used all over the Americas, but for many Native American groups it lost relevancy and remembrance during the first half of the 1900s. It’s unfortunately the nature of slings that we might have to speculate a bit to the best of the knowledge we have.

So Morphy, you’ll probably have to remain in suspense. On my end, I’m limited to whatever the internet has on this. Even Australians would find it difficult to search archives or to take a very long trip up to Darwin to look for a needle in a haystack that may or may not even be there. There is a dim light at the end of this tunnel, in that the blog has taken pictures from an unknown book that has a picture and label of a sling among aboriginal weapons. I believe there is a direction in which this can be explored more, it’s just a matter of where that next step might be.

Like I said it’s a very good possibility that the people were moved to the Northern Territory. It was common back then for them to be moved out of their communities and treated wrongly.

I wish I could contact him again but he was a work colleague and I don’t have any contact details for him. He was extremely passionate about his heritage and proud. From memory the accounts of settlers were along the north east , so very consistent with what you stated. The photos were all actually on Facebook and supplied buy an elder through personal message. It was a lunchtime conversation about my sling that evolved into a discussion about aboriginal technology. He was very eager to get the pictures for me to see.

During the discussion he said he has no knowledge of slings being used and neither did the elder.

I don’t think the sling is so technical that it couldn’t have been made crudely.  A strip of animal hide perhaps.

Every person I’ve ever encountered that may have insider knowledge on the subject seems to say it’s a no or unknown.

Also a wommera serves many purposes and could be used to hurl stones.

Hirtius wrote on Apr 8^th, 2021 at 12:24am:

That's an unfounded assumption. As it happens, I have met a couple of older folk from England who have told me anecdotes of slinging as a boy, and one told a story about their father, who talked to a group of boys that did regularly slinging at the docks (late 19th early 20thc?)
In some parts of England it wasn't that uncommon, for example in the north east it was apparently a tradition kept alive since the Roman occupation where they were employed as slingers (and legend says hit targets the size of quarter barrel at 200y).
Some rural folk also still used the sling to scare birds off fruit trees or crops, but also as a toy. It certainly was not 'forgotten' in certain regions, and no doubt some were very good. It's also very likely the further you go back, the more prevalent it was (especially before industrialisation). I think it's very plausible that a colonist could have brought the idea over. A simple and powerful weapon that can be made from grass is certainly going to appeal to folk who live by basic technologies made from nature.