The Effectiveness of the Sling in Hunting and Combat - Term Paper Example

?Topic:  The purpose of this project is to better understand the effectiveness of the sling in hunting and combat. What is a sling and how is it used? Historians make us understand that acts and events of war have been in existence for over 10,000 years. The same has also been for hunting. Meanwhile, modern history gives accounts of the invention of the current forms of weapons that we know such as bombs and guns as coming into existence for not more than 1,000 years back (Korfmann 1973: 98). The question is thus posed: What were the people in the ancient times using in their combat and hunting? Archaeologists give us a number of answers, one of which points to the use of sling. A sling may simply be explained to be an effective personal projectile weapon that was used in ancient times for purposes of protecting herds, hunting, and combat (York and York 2011: 56-59). Fundamentally, sling was used as a hand-on weapon that was fired by the use of the arm. Users loaded the sling with offensive pellets that included stones and clay. The carriers then spanned the sling in their arms till they felt they had gathered enough force or pressure in the sling before finally releasing it towards their enemies. A very popular story of the use of the sling is told in the story of David and Goliath, where we are told that David used a sling to project a stone against Goliath. There is a lesson learnt from slings here and that is, slings were very powerful weapons and once they were in the right hands, the size of the opponent or target was not a problem. As a shepherd, David was familiar with the use of the sling and so he succeeded. It is in this direction that this project is trying to find out how slings could be used effectively to accomplish hunting and combative missions even in today’s cotemporary world. Known history behind the sling Thanks to archaeologists, history behind the sling is fading no time soon. In times of invention, it is reported that slings are one of the first projectile weapons that were developed around 10,000 B.C (Grunfeld 1996: 103-106). Due to the rapid insurgence of war in those days, slings were considered very useful among the Persian, Greek, Roman, and Mesopotamian for military purposes. There are reports that in the army, slingers were regarded as more powerful than bowmen (Hawkins 1847: 55). Again, history has it the use of sling can be traced to all continents of the world. Archaeologists today have, however, gathered more evidence on the presence and use of the sling in Europe and the Near East (Korfmann 1973: 33-37). What is even more beautiful among the role of the sling in world history is that up to date, the use of the sling are symbolically still in place in areas of the world such as Southern Africa, Pacific Island, Mediterranean and Andean cultures. The slings are used for traditional memorial contests, historical recreations and festival purposes. Much of the history also points to the reasons why the use of the sling started at all. In fact, the use of slings, though became very popular in battle, was not originally meant for that purpose. Knowing that man was basically living with wildlife in the forest in the days of old, the design of the sling was actually necessitated as a weapon for protecting man from carnivores and other dangerous animals that could attack them. The sling was found to be preferably for this course because it has the ability to swing its shot to chase the animals, most of which were very athletic. Materials and construction Even in the ancient times, the materials used in the construction of slings underwent a lot of changes. Generally, the weapon was inexpensive to make as its construction involved the use of readily available materials in the human environment. Basically, a sling was constructed to have a cord and a pouch. One ideal factor was that both the cord and the pouch needed not to be elastic. To this end, materials that were used in the construction included animal hide, flax, hair, hemp, plant fibers, sinew and wool. The ideal behind not making the weapon elastic was that the stiffness of the weapon could guarantee accuracy during the operation (Grunfeld 1996: 109). If it was elastic, the slinger would not virtually have control over its direction and speed. Another important part of the sling was the payload or pellet that was used to hit the target. This was commonly made of stone. However, makers of the weapon and slingers for that matter were very selective with the stones used. Harrison (2006) notes that “stones from riverbeds were popular as their polished, smooth exterior caused less air resistance than angular rocks, which improved accuracy and range.” But even with an attempt to be very selective on the choice of stones, variations were often recorded with the shape and size of stones used. This led to a massive transition with regards to the projectile used. Among most armies who used slings as weapons, concerns began ragging on the need to use uniform projectiles. New forms of projectiles were therefore developed. The idea behind the new developments was to get shapes of projectiles that could be rendered more effective when left to float in open air. So, though the use of stone did not change, the shape of it did. What materials have been used to ensure effectiveness With specific emphasis on the sling (other than the ammunition), there was always the preference for materials that could guarantee agility and flexibility. Elasticity was, however, out of the choice. In view of the need to achieve agility and flexibility without elasticity, ropes and cords were commonly used. It would be noticed that cords and ropes are highly malleable and fit the choice of the sling makers. By using cords and ropes, sling makers had the opportunity to braid or twist the cords and ropes. Braiding or twisting the cords and ropes ensured that the material was very strong and resistant to tear. By this, it was even possible to braid about three to five cords or ropes together as one. In effect, the strength of three to five ropes was guaranteed for just one sling. But all in all, the constructors preferred the use of cords to ropes. This was because cords guaranteed better accuracy than ropes (Hawkins 1847). Cords and ropes were also preferred choices for making slings because they could guarantee length. Generally, slingers needed longer slings when their range was far and vice versa. Making the sling to be too long could also affect delivery and so a typical length used in construction was 2.00 feet to 3.3 feet. Another significant material that was used in the construction of slings was leather. Leather was commonly used for making the pouch, which accommodated the ammunition. In fact the level of skillfulness of makers of slings was often judged by how they could construct the pouch to hold the projectile or ammunition firm in its place. To this end, several constructors shaped the pouch in diamond form and created holes to support the projectile. This picture shows how many ropes can be braided into one firm cord. This picture shows a sling that has a cord made of rope and pouch made of leather. Different variations on the sling As already pointed out, ropes were used as preferred materials because they ensure variation of length. Variation on the sling in terms of length, size, shape and material was a very important factor for considering general effectiveness in the functioning of the sling (Walker 2004). With particular emphasis on variations in length, it can be seen that given the same amount of power put behind the swinging of the sling, longer slings would travel farther than shorter slings. What slingers normally did therefore was that they always had different kinds of slings made of varying lengths. The kind of sling to use therefore depended on the target at hand. This is also an indication that it was not always that lengthy slings were advantageous. This is because excessively longer slings could make the ammunition out fly its target, thereby missing the target. Through experience also, the ancient slingers found that it was easier for them to control the speed and range of the sling if the length was generally short than when it was too long (Ferrill 1985). This is because slings that were longer than the slinger had to be span over the head and this could make the slinger have it difficult to focus on the target. Harrison (2006) actually reports that with a number of factors including the length of the sling and the amount of strength of the slinger well gauged, slingers achieved faster movement of their projectiles because the projectiles suffered less air resistance during flight than arrows. Indeed, research has shown that slingers who were highly experienced could throw projectiles that travelled at speeds over 90m/s (Gabriel and Metz 1991). Different projectiles Initially, different slingers had used different shapes and sizes of projectiles. Though most of them used stone as the ultimate material for the projectiles, there was no uniformity in the kind of stones used. Depending on the target that a slinger wanted to hit, a particular size and shape of stone was used. The slingers, however, came to realize that some of the stones could perform better than others. Archaeologists, for instance, make it clear that stones that were oval and not excessively heavy were very good for use as weapons. Therefore, towards the end of the 7th millennium B.C, “Near Eastern armies began supplying their slingers with uniform projectiles, made from baked-clay or carved stone” (Harrison 2006: 123). Those that were supplied by the armies were spherical but further improvements led to the use of bi-conical and ovoid projectiles. In fact, those bi-conical and ovoid shaped projectiles assured the slingers of point first orientation, which subsequently guaranteed better penetration of target points. Researchers believe that the shape of the different projectiles constituted a major advantage of the use of the sling over the arrow as a weapon. This is because while the sling could make the projectile fly at 90m/s, the best the arrow could do was 50m/s (Gabriel and Metz 1991: 77). Indeed, “when projectile masses were equal, the 50% speed advantage of the sling equates to a 125% increase in kinetic energy (because the velocity value is squared)” (Harrison 2006: 35-37). Stones, clay, ball bearings as well as others Stones dominated as the most preferred form of material for making sling ammunitions or projectiles. This was due to several factors including the fact that stone had a guaranteed mass that made speed in air better. Clearly, the speed of stone cannot be compared to wood, rubber or wool. Stone also had a larger surface area, creating the possibility of causing much havoc to the target or enemy to whom the sling was thrown at. It is from this background that Harrison (2006) quotes Ferril (1985) and Grunfeld (1996) who state that “the impact force of a sling projectile was applied to a larger area during contact, making it unlikely to penetrate flesh, though the collision could cause internal bleeding and even crush bones.” With time, the dominance of the use of stone became lessen. This was because other materials like clay and ball bearings were introduced. Like the stones, which were best picked from river sources, the users of clay also preferred those that were coming from river sources. The ultimate advantage that the use of clay presented was that it enabled the slingers to shape the projectile into whatever shape at all they preferred. There was therefore no limitation with manipulation of the shape of the projectile. It is for this reason that York and York (2011) write that the use of clay was preferred in the Americans because they were pervasive and inclined to variability than previously recognized. As for ball bearing, they were preferred because of their mass and speed, which made them highly deadly. Different throwing/release styles There were actually several factors that were used to judge the effectiveness of a slinger in those days. Whereas the ability to make slings of the most appropriate length for a given purpose and the ability to select the right shape and kind of projectile was important, the style of throwing or releasing one’s projectile was also regarded as highly important in determining accuracy, skills and effectiveness. In most throws by skillful users, there is only one rotation of the sling and this was done over the head so that the throw allows a push over the arm. In some cases, two slow rotations will be done before finally releasing the projectile. In this instance, the first two slow rotations give the projectile a better seating in the pouch. However for war purposes, it was always better that slingers could learn to fire the sling upon only one rotation. This allowed for quicker and more rapid throws within very short periods of time. For instance, Harrison (2006) argues that “a good slinger could fire more than twelve rounds a minute.” This would certainly not be possible if so much time had to be wasted in rotating the sling. Styles that have been used throughout history Though slingers in history did not know anything much about cricket or the cricket ball, the style that was used throughout history in the firing of the sling can be compared to the style used in releasing the cricket ball. Often, the slinger would have to position him or herself at a 60 degree angle towards the target spot. To achieve more speed, power and vigor, the slinger needed to perform a coordinated movement in the cause of releasing the projectile. This coordinated movement simply meant that the slinger had to move the hand, leg, waist, elbow, wrist and shoulders during the throw. There was also another style that was very common. This style, if compared to modern sports, may be equated to the throwing of a softball. In this situation, an underarm throw was done instead of an overhead throw. The only limitation was that rotating the sling and releasing it underarm did not guarantee much accuracy. Speed was, however, a guarantee (Korfmann 1973). With either overhead throw or underarm style of throwing the slings, good slingers could achieve range of throw from 150 meters to 500 meters (Korfmann1973: 122). In fact, the current Guinness World Record for the farthest sling projectile range is 437 meters, which was set by Larry Bray in 1981 (Norris 1985: 23). Results of experiment and Conclusion Several important revelations on the use of sling to achieve effectiveness and accuracy have been studied from this project. Adapting the use of qualitative data collection procedure to critically review existing literature on slings, it was realized that the sling was made up of two major components, which were the weapon and the ammunition. The ammunition was also referred to as the projectile. The weapon was also made of two major parts, which were the pouch and the cord. The cord was the length of the sling, which was rotated to allow release of the ammunition. The pouch, on the other hand, housed the ammunition before the release was made. It was also discovered that the length of the cord was very important in determining the distance that a projectile could cover. It was also responsible for achieving accuracy in the throw. To this end, medium sized slings are generally preferred. On the part of the projectile, it has been established that stone has been the commonest material used to achieve effectives. However, clay and ball bearing were used along the line. With any of the materials used as ammunition, it was always important that the slinger aimed at using oval shaped projectile. This is because they guaranteed much speed and accuracy. They could also guarantee effective damage to the target in hunting or war. Finally, it was established that there are two major forms or styles in throwing the sling, which are underarm or overhead throw. Underarm throw assures speed but not accuracy while the overhead throw does the vice versa. In conclusion, archaeologists are in a better position to modernize the use of slings by introducing technology that would make that weapon still effect today for hunting and combat purposes. ANNOTATED BIBILOGRAPHY McWhirter, Norris (editor) 1985 The Guinness Book of World Records. 23rd US edition. Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., New York. Norris is a major follower of the Guiness World Record show and so holds an in-depth knowledge of the program and other records set by people. The book was published by Sterling Publishing Company, which has been in the forefront in the publication of major academic papers. The source was generally used to provide useful and empirical statistics on the range of sling throw that has been experienced in modern times as there are no concrete records for ancient throws. Gabriel, Richard, and Karen Metz 1991 From Sumer to Rome: The Military Capabilities of Ancient Armies. Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport, CT. These are two writers who have studied military practices with specific emphasis on ancient armies. Their knowledge was therefore very ideal when writing on ancient weapons. The publisher, Greenwood Publishing Group, is dedicated to academic productions that are backed by facts and certified figures. The source was used purposely to gain an insight inro how useful the sling has been over the years in combat and especially in military practice. Ferrill, Arther 1985 The Origins of War, From the Stone Age to Alexander the Great. Thames and Hudson Ltd., London. Ferrill is known to have a great bias for writings that are related to archaeology and for that matter stone age history. He is thus a perfect source to visit for this research. His work was produced by Thames and Hudson Limited that has credibility in guaranteed British print. The source was selected because it gives the history of a specified time in history, which was from the Stone Age to Alexander the Great. It would be observed that the use of slings could not have been better used in any time in history than those days since technology was not common at the time. Walker, R. 2004 Density of Materials: Bulk Materials. Electronic document, http://www.simetric.co.uk/ si_materials.htm, accessed May 10, 2012. Walker is a physicist whose insightful writing is purely based on calculations and empirical data analysis. He has long been a web publisher with several works to his credit. This particular work was selected because of the insight it gave in the densities and masses of materials including stones, clay and ball bearings, which are all used as ammunitions in sling warfare. Harrison, Chris 2006 The Sling in Medieval Europe. Electronic document, http://www.chrisharrison.net/projects/sling/index.html, accessed May 10, 2012. Harrison specifies most of his writings to the Medieval Europe. He is, however, very knowledgeable with other parts of the planet like Africa and Asia. There is no wonder he relates most of his studies to Africa and Asia. He has his full work published online. His source was very useful in understanding a rather forgotten weapon – the sling better. This is because he gives a historical account of the weapon from the perspective of the Medieval Europeans and how the use of sling influenced their hunting and combat activities. Korfmann, Manfred 1973 The Sling as a Weapon. Scientific American 229(4): 35-42. This writer is an expert in war and war studies. In his present work, he limits his reach to ancient weapons and their effectiveness in combat and hunting. He places particular premium on slings. As a published author, his present work is found in the Scientific American Journal. This is a journal that has been used to promote the works of famous American scientists. In this source, the researcher looked at the specific ways in which people of ancient times mastered the use of the sling to serve the different military purposes it was used to undertake. Hawkins, Walter 1847 Observations on the Use of the Sling, as a Warlike Weapon among the Ancients. J.B. Nichols and Son, London. This writer is an experienced lecturer and writer who has mastered in archaeology. This time round, he narrows his studies to ancient weapons for defense and combat with particular emphasis on the sling. Published by the reputable J.B Nichols and Son, the source was rendered very useful in bringing out the historical perspective of the use of sling as a weapon. Again, the use was very useful in giving specific description to the sling and its composition. Grunfeld, Foster 1996 The Unsung Sling. Military History Quarterly 9(1): 51-55. Grunfeld is a world acclaimed archaeologist who has dedicated most of his studies to unearthing weapons and objects of mega importance that have been lost due to a poor follow up nature. He published his work in the Military History Quarterly, which gives accounts of military activities and records for the past millenniums. This source was considered for the present project because it suggests some of the most useful ways of building on the sling for it to become useful even for use in today’s combat and hunting purposes. York, R., and G. York 2011 Sling and Slingstones: The Forgotten Weapons of Oceania and the Americas. Kent State University Press, Kent. These are two writers who spiced up their work with detailed research on the sling as a forgotten weapon. In the opinion of the writers, there was so much importance that the sling offered the ancient world that it ought not to have been forgotten so easily. It is for the insightfulness of their work that it was accepted for publication by the Kent State University Press. The researcher selected this work as one of the sources because it gives detailed history of the use of sling in the ancient times. The specific style of use is all outlined in the book. Read More