Webster: “an instrument for throwing stones or other missiles that usually consists of a short strap with two strings attached to its ends or with a string fastened to one end and a light stick fastened to the other and that is used by whirling round until on loosing one end the missile is let fly with centrifugal force.”
This is not the rubber-powered “slingshot” that many of us have used. Most folks are familiar with the sling that David used against Goliath in the Old Testament: "... David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag, and took a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth" (KJV 1 Samuel 17:48-49). The truth is, the sling has been used by ethnic cultures on every continent except for two: Antarctica (of course) and Australia. Every other place on the map has a history of sling use at one point in time. The armies of classical Europe made good use of the sling in combat. Alexander the Great and the armies of Rome used slingers, preferring to get their troops from the Mediterranean islands called the Balearics. To this day, there is a sport slinging tradition maintained there. As for northern Europe, images of slingers in action survive from the Bayeux Tapestry and Anglo-Saxon manuscripts. These slingers are all depicted throwing stones at birds in flight; it is apparently a handy weapon for wildfowl, something of the shotgun of the day. In literature, the Irish hero Cuchulain in the epic Cattle Raid of Cooley uses a sling to defeat whole armies single-handedly. This is no doubt a tall tale, but at least it shows that the Northern Europeans knew the combat uses of the sling. Iron Age forts have been found to have caches of stones of the size and shape that would be perfect for slinging. In Denmark there was an object found among leather scraps in Hedeby (or Haithabu) that could be interpreted to be a sling, and if so it would be the only archaeological example in existence.
WARNING
Despite outward appearances, the sling is a
dangerous and deadly weapon. Check with local regulations. Mere possession
may be construed as a felony. Practice only in a safe and legal manner.
If in
If you have watched an ice skater spinning with her arms out, then withdraw her arms and beginning to spin much faster, then you have witnessed the Law of Conservation of Angular Momentum at work.
Start facing the target, with a stone in the pouch and your right arm by your side. Pivot on your left foot counter-clockwise, and as you do so, bring your arm up so it is nearly parallel with the ground. Come all the way around to face the target again. As you do so, bring your arm up over your head so the sling is whirling directly above. If you do it right, you will feel the force of the stone trying to pull your finger from its socket and the blood pressure in your fingertip increasing. Don’t twirl this around too long. Lean back slightly, and forward, and release. This is not a very accurate cast, but it is probably the most powerful cast you can do with an ordinary sling.
Remember, a .45 caliber pistol round only goes about 300 mph (500 fps), and there is no doubt about the deadliness of that weapon.
The hang-up with a sling is that it is not very accurate, at least not without years of practice. It is clear to see that the sling was used against massed targets, whether birds flying in formation or soldiers in a different kind of flock.
For more information please visit Slinging.org.Korfmann, Manfred. "The sling as a weapon." Scientific American 229, no.4 (October 1973), pp34-42.
Gabriel, Richard A, and Karen Metz. From Sumer to Rome, the Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies
Groenmann-Van Waateringe, Willy. Die Lederfunde von Haithabu. (Berichte Über die Ausgrabungen in Haithabu, Berichte 21) Neumunster : K. Wachholtz, 1984.
Savage, Cliff. The Sling for Sport and Survival
Last weekend, I visited Berkeley University’s Anthropology Library where they have a copy of Die Lederfunde von Haithabu. It is, of course, mostly about shoes, and indeed a good resource on that subject. Haithabu (or Hedeby) is an 8th century AD Viking-age find in Denmark. I copied the text and drawings that seemed to pertain to the “sling”.
Two leather objects are described as “Functional nicht eindeutig” which Babelfish tells me that it means “functional not unique”, and my rusty German will have to take that at face value. I make no claim as to positive identification of any function of these objects. They may be practice leatherworking pieces, or their function may have changed through their lifetimes; we don’t know and – since we have no human survivors from that time – we may never know. My intent is to discover if one or both of these could have been a sling-pouch.
“Sling 1”, which is what I will call the more complete of the two possible sling-pouches, is spindle-shaped, with flat, square ends. Its overall length is 13.2 cm. Its width is about 4.2 cm, tapering to 1.4 cm at both ends. At each end is a ragged hole, measuring between .8 and .9 cm. The body of the object is covered with four sets of longitudinally oriented slits, ranging from five to nine slits each set, creating a kind of net-work. The slits measure around 1.75 cm each. One of the sides appears to have been partially degraded. At least one of the slits has broken through to a slit in a neighboring set, whether by use or during manufacture. The overall appearance of “Sling 1” is very symmetric, indicating some definite and important function.
“Sling 2” is a second piece of leather. It is somewhat larger and less symmetrical than “Sling 1”. It possesses only one hole similar to “Sling 1”s two holes. Its slits run the entire length of the leather piece, and one of the slits penetrates the hole, an apparent accident or mistake. As it possesses only one hole, it could not be a useable sling-pouch; however its relative crudeness, state of incompleteness and the penetration of one slit into the hole suggest that it was a mistake or practice piece, and was discarded. Another possibility exists, of course, that the functions of the two pieces may be completely different.
To evaluate “Sling 1” in terms of functionality as a sling-pouch, I might begin by noting that the slits in the leather provide a kind of open net, which would allow the leather to “cup” around the sling-stone, while not providing a large enough hole for the stone to exit accidentally under the centrifugal action of the sling in action. The holes are easily large enough for any size of useful sling-cord. It is difficult to determine from the drawing, but the holes do not seem to exhibit the kind of deformation that one would expect from a used leather sling-pouch, so perhaps it is an unused part for a prospective sling. Anecdotally is has been suggested that the leather measures 3-mm thick, although the text – as far as I can tell – mentions nothing of the sort; all I can gather is that it is not goatskin, as the book positively identifies another, unrelated, leather piece as goatskin. There is nothing I can gather from the appearance of this object which would suggest that it is impossible to be a sling-pouch.
Under this general/comprehensive term a series is not summarized bestimmmarer pieces, which have however or mehere characteristic features together. They can be subdivided in eight groups of related in each case articles:
Only for the tonnenförmigen pieces, a parallel is present from the Viking period in York, which is described as follows (Richardson 1961, Abb. 19.24; S. 85): “Triangular appendage made of leather straps broken off below a rigid tubular thong with knobbed ends threaded through the straps to keep them spreading out. The two upper straps are also threaded with thongs, one of which passes through the apex. Perhaps used for suspending a dagger or purse from the belt.” There are however, among other things from the Dublin 12th and 13th century, also pieces, which are dated to the high middle ages (Dublin catalog 1976, S. 43, #188): “Leather object of unknown function. Oval with a semi-cylindrical projection at each narrow end. Longitudinal slashing as ornament. Late 12th century. High street. Length 9.5 cm.” A comparable piece is saved 1974 with the excavations at the Woodquay. In Southampton such pieces of leather are as "shoe tongue, slashed and pierced at either end for attachment" addressed (Platt and Coleman-Smith 1975, S. 301). Dating probably moves in 16th century. Similar pieces are represented in late medieval leather material from Holland.
The pieces from Haithabu show an approximately triangular form, if one them transverse to the center fold. The openings, by which the leather tape had to be pulled by the strips in the center and parallel to the bent upward pages, are however missing at them. The acceptance that these pieces served sheaths at the belt for the attachment of Messeroder, seems not to be able itself to support therefore by concrete specification. On the other hand cannot be agreed the interpretation than "shoe tongue" also, because so far at the upper leather tracks were never found for the attachment of such a piece. Since the major part of the leather material might come from shoes, it is situated near to regard also these pieces of leather as shoe remainders. Most likely the pieces with continuous slots were interlaced; the openings in both ends probably served for the attachment. Round one of pieces with central opening are well-known also from Oslo. The editor indicates however also no conclusive interpretation for the objects, holds it however for possible that they come from a handle. Besides some individual parts are to be addressed more exactly: A piece from group 3 seems a type protective cap (thimble?) to have been. Another piece from group 5 is the unused edge of a goat skin; with the help of the partings the became leather strained. This piece puts near that goat skins contained an useful length of approximately 50 cm.
Verschiedenes
Unter diesem Sammelbegriff wird eine Reihe nicht
bestimmmarer Stücke zusammengefaßt, die allerdings eines oder mehere
charakteristische Merkmale gemeinsam haben.
Sie lassen sich in acht Gruppen von jeweils verwandten
Gegenständen aufgliedern:
Nur für die tonnenförmigen Stücke liegt aus dem wikingerzeitlichen York eine Parralele vor, die folgendermaßen beschrieben wird: Es gibt aber, u.a. aus dem Dublin des 12 und 13. Jahrhunderts, auch Stücke, die hochmittelalterlich datiert werden: Ein vergleichchbares Stück werde 1974 bei den Ausgrabungen am Woodquay geborgen. In Southampton ist ein solches Lederstücke als “show tongue, slashed and pierced at either end for attachment” angesprochen worden. Die Datierung bewegt sich vermutlich im 16. Jahrhundert. Ähnliche Stücke sind darüber hinaus im spätmittelalterlichen Ledermaterial aus Holland vertreten. Die Stücke aus Haithabu zeigen eine annähernd dreieckige Form, ween man sie quer zur Mitte faltet. Die Öffnungen, durch die das Lederband durch die Streifen in der Mitte und parallel zu den aufbogenen Seiten gezogen werden musste, sind an ihnen jedoch nicht vorhanden. Die Annahme, daß diese Stücke zur Befestigung von Messeroder Dolchscheiden am Gürtel dienten, scheint sich deschalb nicht auf konkrete Angaben stützen zu können. Anderseits kann der Deutung als “shoe tongue” auch nicht zugestimmt werden, weil bisher am Berleder niemals Spuren zur Befestigung eines solchen Stücks gefunden wurden. Da der Größte Teil des Ledermaterials von Schuhen stammen dürfte, liegt es nahe, auch diese Lederstücke als Schuhreste zu betrachten. Höchstwahrscheinlich sind die Stücke mit durchgehenden Schlitzen verflochten gewesen; die Öffnungen in beiden Enden dienten wohl zur Befestigung. Runde Stücke mit Mittelöffnung sind auch aus Olso bekannt. Der Bearbeiter gibt jedoch auch keine schlüssige Deutung für die Objeckte an, hält es jedoch f ür möglich, daß sie von einem Handgriff stammen. Daneben sind einige Einzelteile genauer anzusprechen: Ein Stück aus Gruppe 3 scheint eine Art Schutzkappe (Fingerhut?) gewesen zu sein. Ein anderes Stück aus Gruppe 5 ist der ungebrauchte Rand eines Ziegenfelles; mit Hilfe der Einstiche wurde das Leder gespannt. Dieses Stück legt nahe, daß Ziegenfelle eine brauchbare Länge von etwa 50 cm enthielten.