The humble sling outranged Persian stones when Rhodians switched to lead
Two cords and a pouch can hurl a stone far beyond any human arm, sometimes over 400 metres on a high arc. Ancient armies relied on the sling for thousands of years, yet surviving examples are rare, because the cords rot and nobody wealthy took such a cheap weapon to the grave.
A slinger threads a finger or wrist through a loop at the end of one cord, pinches a tab on the other, swings the pouch in an arc and lets go at just the right instant. That double-pendulum motion flings stones, clay or lead bullets much further than a throw. Traditional slings were braided from flax, hemp or wool, since a braid resists twisting and improves aim; modern ones often use polyester. Typical lengths run from about 61 to 100 centimetres, with longer versions for greater range.
Shaped stones thought to be sling ammunition appear in the Near East by the sixth millennium BC, and a possible slinger is depicted at Çatalhöyük around 7000 BC. The oldest slings themselves, dated to about 2500 BC, come from coastal Peru. Egypt's Manchester Sling, made wholly of plant fibre, dates to around 2000 to 1800 BC, and a pair of finely plaited slings lay in Tutankhamun's tomb, probably meant for hunting in the afterlife.
The Balearic Islanders were the most celebrated slingers of antiquity. Strabo claimed their children got no bread until they had struck it with a sling, and Carthage hired them as mercenaries carrying three slings for different distances. Xenophon records that during the retreat of the Ten Thousand in 401 BC, Persian slingers tormented the Greeks until 200 Rhodians armed with lead bullets doubled the reach of the enemy's large stones.
The Book of Judges holds what is thought to be the oldest written mention of a sling, and David's duel with Goliath is its most famous story. At the Iron Age hill fort of Maiden Castle in Dorset, some 22,000 sling stones have been found, and such forts may have been laid out to suit slingers. Today the sling survives mainly as a wilderness survival tool.
Source: Sling (weapon)
