| # | Polity | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | Edit | Desc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
"The weapons used in the military forces of the Anatolian Principalities were bow and arrow, sword, shield, javelin, dagger, club, axe, catapult and arrade."
[1]
[1]: (1994, 365) Ibrahim Kafesoglu. Ahmet Edip Uysal. Erdogan Mercil. Hidayet Yavuz Nuhoglu. 1994. A short history of Turkish-Islamic states (excluding the Ottoman state). Turkish Historical Society Printing House. |
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|
Iroquois warfare is relatively well documented, so the fact that source do not mention slings suggests that there weren’t any, or that they weren’t particularly common.
|
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|
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
|
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|
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
|
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|
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
|
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|
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
|
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|
Jacq-Hergoualc’h’s in-depth and authoritative analysis of Khmer weaponry includes no mention of slings.
[1]
[1]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h 2007) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GAJMIR4G. |
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|
Jacq-Hergoualc’h’s in-depth and authoritative analysis of Khmer weaponry includes no mention of slings.
[1]
[1]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h 2007) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GAJMIR4G. |
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|
Jacq-Hergoualc’h’s in-depth and authoritative analysis of Khmer weaponry includes no mention of slings.
[1]
[1]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h 2007) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GAJMIR4G. |
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|
Many sources mention thrown and ranged projectile weapons, but no mention of slings.
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|
Unlikely to have been very effective given other ranged weapons widely available e.g. crossbow.
|
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|
inferred from presence of composite bow?
|
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|
"Little is known about warfare in Mesoamerica before the Middle Formative [...] warfare was relatively unorganized, conducted by small groups armed with unspecialized tool-weapons".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 12-13) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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|
Not mentioned in detailed descriptions/lists of finds from Mehrgarh. "War technology is not well represented" before the Indus period.
[1]
[1]: (Kenoyer 1991: 347) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/A7DS8UKX. |
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|
Not mentioned in detailed descriptions/lists of finds from Mehrgarh. "War technology is not well represented".
[1]
Only flint, bone and copper tools tools have been found at Mehrgarh
[2]
[1]: (Kenoyer 1991: 347) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/A7DS8UKX/q/kenoyer. [2]: Petrie, C. A. (in press) Chapter 11, Case Study: Mehrgarh. In, Barker, G and Goucher, C (eds.) Cambridge World History, Volume 2: A World with Agriculture, 12,000 BCE - 500 CE. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge |
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|
Not mentioned in detailed descriptions/lists of finds from Mehrgarh. "War technology is not well represented".
[1]
Only flint, bone and copper tools tools have been found at Mehrgarh
[2]
[1]: (Kenoyer 1991: 347) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/A7DS8UKX/q/kenoyer. [2]: Petrie, C. A. (in press) Chapter 11, Case Study: Mehrgarh. In, Barker, G and Goucher, C (eds.) Cambridge World History, Volume 2: A World with Agriculture, 12,000 BCE - 500 CE. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge |
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|
Not mentioned in detailed descriptions/lists of finds from Mehrgarh. "War technology is not well represented".
[1]
Only flint, bone and copper tools tools have been found at Mehrgarh
[2]
[1]: (Kenoyer 1991: 347) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/A7DS8UKX/q/kenoyer. [2]: Petrie, C. A. (in press) Chapter 11, Case Study: Mehrgarh. In, Barker, G and Goucher, C (eds.) Cambridge World History, Volume 2: A World with Agriculture, 12,000 BCE - 500 CE. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge |
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|
"Terracotta balls, interpreted as sling-stones or throwing stones (Wheeler 1968: 76-77) are also common finds at major Indus cities, and although explicitly considered by Wheeler, they have largely been ignored. [...] However, it is very likely that the majority of them, especially the smaller examples, were meant for hunting small birds and animals, a point Mackay acknowledges."
[1]
"Small, perforated spherical objects of various sizes have been interpreted in a number of ways: as mace heads, digging stick weights, or bolas components."
[2]
Bolas are "weapon, used particularly in the ancient Americas, for catching animals. It consisted of one or several lengths of rope to which stone balls were attached, and was thrown to entangle an animal’s legs, bringing it down. It has been suggested that the Harappan perforated balls, which are usually called mace heads, may have been part of such a device."
[3]
[1]: (Cork 2006: 170) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/IQQCEMPC/q/cork. [2]: (McIntosh 2008, 314) Jane McIntosh. 2008. The Ancient Indus Valley. Santa Barbara; Denver; Oxford: ABC-CLIO. [3]: (McIntosh 2008, 405) Jane McIntosh. 2008. The Ancient Indus Valley. Santa Barbara; Denver; Oxford: ABC-CLIO. |
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|
"Terracotta balls, interpreted as sling-stones or throwing stones (Wheeler 1968: 76-77) are also common finds at major Indus cities, and although explicitly considered by Wheeler, they have largely been ignored. [...] However, it is very likely that the majority of them, especially the smaller examples, were meant for hunting small birds and animals, a point Mackay acknowledges."
[1]
"Small, perforated spherical objects of various sizes have been interpreted in a number of ways: as mace heads, digging stick weights, or bolas components."
[2]
Bolas are "weapon, used particularly in the ancient Americas, for catching animals. It consisted of one or several lengths of rope to which stone balls were attached, and was thrown to entangle an animal’s legs, bringing it down. It has been suggested that the Harappan perforated balls, which are usually called mace heads, may have been part of such a device."
[3]
[1]: (Cork 2006: 170) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/IQQCEMPC/q/cork. [2]: (McIntosh 2008, 314) [3]: (McIntosh 2008, 405) |
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|
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
|
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|
Sources only mention bows and arrows, muskets, war-clubs, knives, and hatchets
[1]
. It should be noted that sources that specifically describe the way the Illinois Confederation waged war are relatively rare.
[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html |
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|
Code checked by Peter Peregrine. Previous notes: Archaeological evidence for warfare appears to "only" include "[d]efensive structures around villages, violent injuries on human remains, "trophy heads," the abandonment of regions, and the positioning of sites in ever more defensive positions"
[1]
, though a few weapon types can be cautiously inferred, such as bow and arrows and spears
[2]
, and, at a later date, firearms
[3]
.
[1]: G. Gibbon, Oneota, in P. Peregrine, M. Ember and Human Relations Area Files, Inc. (eds.) Encyclopedia of Prehistory: Volume 6: North America (2001), p. 391 [2]: P.S. Martin, G.I. Quimby and D.Collier, Indians Before Columbus (1947), p. 316 [3]: Illinois State Museum, Late Prehistoric, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/pre/htmls/lp_weapons.html |
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|
These do not appear to be included in depictions of "warriors" in North Yemeni rock-art from the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age, as reproduced in Jung (1991).
[1]
However, Jung himself does not state these were not in use, nor does he remark on their absence in said depictions.
[1]: (Jung 1991) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JP9KX5BK. |
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|
These do not appear to be included in depictions of "warriors" in North Yemeni rock-art from the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age, as reproduced in Jung (1991).
[1]
However, Jung himself does not state these were not in use, nor does he remark on their absence in said depictions.
[1]: (Jung 1991) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/JP9KX5BK. |
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|
No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
|
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|
Unlikely due to use of crossbows.
|
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|
Unnecessary when peasants can be equipped with the easy-to-use crossbow.
|
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|
No mention in sources so far consulted.
|
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|
no mention in sources so far consulted.
|
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|
-
|
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|
-
|
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|
-
|
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|
-
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No mention in sources so far consulted.
|
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-
|
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|
-
|
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|
Not mentioned in the literature.
|
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|
Unlikely in use at this time.
|
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|
-
|
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|
no mention in sources; does not make sense for time period
|
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-
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-
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|
-
|
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|
"Little is known about warfare in Mesoamerica before the Middle Formative [...] warfare was relatively unorganized, conducted by small groups armed with unspecialized tool-weapons".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 12-13) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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|
-
|
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|
not mentioned in any of the sources that deal with weapons and armor
|
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|
not mentioned in any of the sources that deal with weapons and armor
|
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|
-
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|
-
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|
-
|
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|
Powerful composite bows suggest these weapons had become obsolete
|
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|
Unnecessary when peasants can be equipped with the easy-to-use crossbow.
|
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|
Better, simple-to-use range weapons available, such as the crossbow.
|
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|
Unlikely due to use of crossbows.
|
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|
Checked by Peter Peregrine.
|
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|
Checked by Peter Peregrine.
|
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|
Iroquois warfare is relatively well documented, so the fact that source do not mention slings suggests that there weren’t any, or that they weren’t particularly common.
|
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|
Checked by Peter Peregrine.
|
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|
Checked by Peter Peregrine.
|
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|
Checked by Peter Peregrine.
|
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|
obsolete by this time
|
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|
-
|
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|
not mentioned in sources detailing A’chik weapons and tools
|
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|
Used against the Spanish by the Maya.
[1]
We need to know whether the Habsburgs used them.
[1]: (Pemberton 2011, preview) Pemberton, John. 2011. Conquistadors: Searching for El Dorado: The Terrifying Spanish Conquest of the Aztec and Inca Empires. Canary Press eBooks Limited. https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/3SI549GS |
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|
Lances, swords, crossbowmen, longbows, pikemen were of central importance on the battlefield for at least 200 years after the first guns until the Battle of Carignola (1503 CE) which was probably decided by guns and Marignano (1515 CE) when Swiss squares were beaten by cavalry shooting pistols and cannon artillery.
[1]
The first Bourbon era 1589-1660 CE is firmly after the transition to firearm dominance so at this time the old weapons must have played only a minor role in warfare or had been completely abandoned.
[1]: (Nolan 2006, 367) Cathal J Nolan. 2006. The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization. Volume 1 A - K. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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|
Unlikely when better, easy to use, weapons like crossbow widely available.
|
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|
Better, simple-to-use range weapons available, such as the crossbow.
|
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|
-
|
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|
inferred from discussion in sources of projectile technology in this period
|
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|
inferred from discussion in sources of projectile technology during this period
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|
No mention of slings. Old Mataram was a ’highly Indianized culture’ until it was replaced by an East Javanese one "that increasingly promoted various elements of the island’s older indigenous traditions."
[1]
The switch-over did not occur until the end of the Kediri Kingdom: it was the Singhasari Kingdom that witnessed ’the decline of Hindu culture and civilisation in Java and the succession of Javanese culture.’
[2]
Temple reliefs from earlier periods contain murals showing clubs, swords, bows and arrows, spears, shields, armour, knives, halberds.
[3]
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese: "war, weapon, sword, lance, armour, shield, helmet, banner, battle, siege, fortress, soldier, officer, enemy, spy, etc."
[4]
[1]: (Unesco 2005, 233) Unesco. 2005. The Restoration of Borobudur. Unesco. [2]: (Rao 2005, 213) B V Rao. 2005. History of Asia. Sterling Publishers Pvt Ltd. New Dawn Press, Inc. Elgin. [3]: (Draeger 1972, 23, 27) D F Draeger. 1972. Weapons and Fighting Arts of Indonesia. Tuttle Publishing. [4]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi. |
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|
Not listed: "Weapons, notably axes, clubs, swords, and daggers, seem to have been Indian, though the curved swords are of a later type than those on the Central Javanese reliefs. The reappearance of the spear in these reliefs, while the use of the bow is confined to human heroes, suggests an increasing pressure to resume use of local types of weapons."
[1]
[1]: (Powell 2002, 325) John Powell. 2002. Weapons & Warfare: Ancient and medieval weapons and warfare (to 1500). Salem Press. |
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|
Old Mataram was a ’highly Indianized culture’ until it was replaced by an East Javanese one "that increasingly promoted various elements of the island’s older indigenous traditions."
[1]
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese: "war, weapon, sword, lance, armour, shield, helmet, banner, battle, siege, fortress, soldier, officer, enemy, spy, etc."
[2]
In southern India at this time (Rashtrakuta dynasty) military technology included "the sword, the trident or spear, the javelin, the battleaxe, the shield, etc."
[3]
; while their predecessors had "swords, shields, spears, clubs, lances, bows and arrows etc."
[4]
[1]: (Unesco 2005, 233) Unesco. 2005. The Restoration of Borobudur. Unesco. [2]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi. [3]: (Ramachandra Murthy 1994, 116) N S Ramachandra Murthy. 1994. Military Administration of the Rashtrakutas in the Telugu Country. B R Gopal. ed. The Rashtrakutas of Malkhed. [4]: (Sreenivasa Murthy and Ramakrishnan 1975, 93) H V Sreenivasa Murthy and R Ramakrishnan. 1975. A History of Karnataka. Vivek Prakashan. |
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|
Not shown in detailed military iconography.
[1]
[2]
"Round and ovoid sling pellets have been dug up in early Sumer and Turkestan. Ovoid sling pellets have been unearthed at the neolithic sites on the Iranian tableland. In later times, the sling was used in Palestine and Syria. It was introduced in Egypt at a still later date."
[3]
On Naram-Sin’s Victory Stele "two men armed what may be a throw-stick or a sling, carrying either short or long darts or a container of sling bullets."
[4]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 190) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. [2]: Hamblin 2006, 48 [3]: (Singh 1997, 90) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. [4]: (Foster 2016, 166) Foster, Benjamin R. 2016. The Age of Agade. Inventing Empire In Ancient Mesopotamia. Routledge. London. |
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|
"As with the rest of the Near East, there is little evidence for warfare in Neolithic Mesopotamia."
[1]
[1]: (Hamblin 2006: 33) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/4WM3RBTD. |
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|
"We have no evidence for warfare. In contrast with later periods, ’Ubaid seals show no depictions of weapons, prisoners, or combat scenes".
[1]
[1]: (Stein 1994: 39) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/V94SXJRJ. |
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|
In the Zhou period "The conscripted foot soldiers wore sheepskin jackets and used slings and bows with bronze-tipped arrows. By 340 B.C., they had adopted the crossbow..."
[1]
[1]: (Meyer 1994, 132) Milton Walter Meyer. 1994. China: A Concise History. Second Edition, Revised. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Lanham. |
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|
"The Guptas imitated the dress, equipment and the techniques of warfare as practised by the Central Asian nomads."
[1]
The Kushans had used slings.
[2]
[1]: (Roy 2016, 22) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon. [2]: (Mukhamedjanov 1994, 269) Mukhamedjanov, A R. Economy and Social System in Central Asia in the Kushan Age. in Harmatta J, Puri B N and Etemadi G F eds. 1994. History of civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. UNESCO. |
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|
Reference for northern India in the 7th century CE: According to Hiuen Tsang (quoted here) the Harsha infantry had ’slings’ and had been ’drilled in them for generations.’
[1]
"The period between the post-Gupta era and the Islamic invasions is generally regarded as a sort of ’quasi Dark Age’ in India ... military historian U. P. Thapliyal asserts that after AD 500, there were no innovations in the theory and practice of warfare."
[2]
Kaushik Roy disagrees with this evaluation but I presume with respect to the idea of a lack of new innovation.
[1]: (Sen 1999, 257) Sailendra Nath Sen. 1999. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. Second Edition. New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers. New Delhi. [2]: (Roy 2013, 27) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London. |
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|
[1]
Ed: more information needed here. What is the nature of the evidence and for what time period does it apply? Reference is J K Hoffmeier in D B Redford. ed. 2001. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Oxford. Have been able to discover there is a ’slings and stones’ section in volume P-Z 2: 409-10. Don’t know if reference taken from here as I currently am unable to access it.
[1]: (Hoffmeier 2001) |
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|
The others (these are presumably the Tihamah tribesmen)... They all also generally carry a sling for the purpose of throwing stones wound around their heads, and under this sling they carry a piece of wood, a span in length which is called mesuech [Ar.miswajc] with which they clean their teeth and generally from forty or fifty downwards they wear two horns made of their own hair, so that they look like young kids.^
[1]
[1]: Porter, Venetia Ann (1992) The history and monuments of the Tahirid dynasty of the Yemen 858-923/1454-1517, Durham theses, Durham University, pp. 111-113, Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/5867/ |
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|
"The sling is shown being used in assault on towns in the early Middle Kingdom tombs at Beni Hasan. Examples found in the tomb of Tutankhamun were made of linen. Despite its rare appearance in battle scenes, it was probably widely used. [...] A sling shot from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods could be made of lead, and carried inscribed messages for the unfortunate recipient."
[1]
According to one military historian, many ancient armies used slingers. Vulnerable to counter-attacks, slinger units were usually small and used at the start of the battle. Because of the training required to produce and effective slinger they were often hired mercenaries.
[2]
[1]: (Morkot 2010: 222) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/AHFJE5Z2. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 31) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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|
-
|
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|
Inferred present from Fatimid period.
|
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|
According to one military historian many ancient armies used slingers. Vulnerable to counter-attacks, slinger units were usually small and used at the start of the battle. Because of the training required to produce and effective slinger they were often hired mercenaries.
[1]
Saite Kingdom used Greek mercenaries. In this period there were highly-trained slingers in the Mediterranean region (e.g. Balearic slingers). It is probable that the Saites also employed slingers.
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 31) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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|
"The sling is shown being used in assault on towns in the early Middle Kingdom tombs at Beni Hasan. Examples found in the tomb of Tutankhamun were made of linen. Despite its rare appearance in battle scenes, it was probably widely used. [...] A sling shot from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods could be made of lead, and carried inscribed messages for the unfortunate recipient."
[1]
[1]: (Morkot 2010: 222) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/AHFJE5Z2. |
||||||
|
Reference for northern India in the 7th century CE: According to Hiuen Tsang (quoted here) the Harsha infantry had ’slings’ and had been ’drilled in them for generations.’
[1]
[1]: (Sen 1999, 257) Sailendra Nath Sen. 1999. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. Second Edition. New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers. New Delhi. |
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|
Used against the Spanish by the Maya.
[1]
We need to know whether the Habsburgs used them.
[1]: (Pemberton 2011, preview) Pemberton, John. 2011. Conquistadors: Searching for El Dorado: The Terrifying Spanish Conquest of the Aztec and Inca Empires. Canary Press eBooks Limited. https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/3SI549GS |
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|
Referring to Vedic texts: "Balls (guda) or metal or stone, to which the Epics refer, were hurled, presumably with the help of a sling."
[1]
[1]: (Singh 1965: 116) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QW5EBAAU. |
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|
Inferred from presence of slings in previous and subsequent polities in Upper Egypt.
|
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|
-
|
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|
David Baker says present.
[1]
Carolingian period: "Carolingian military organization was based primarily on that of their Merovingian predecessors, who had built on later Roman institutions ... Archers and slingers fighting on foot supported the battle line."
[2]
[1]: David Baker. Personal communication to Seshat Databank. [2]: (Bachrach 2001, x) Barnard S Bachrach. 2001. Early Carolingian Warfare: Prelude to Empire. University of Pennsylvania Press. Philadelphia. |
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|
Islanders used slings, spears and clubs: ’Within districts, conflict arose over land, succession to chiefship, theft, adultery, and avenging homicide. Between districts, it arose over attentions to local women by outside men, the status of one district as subordinate to another, and rights of access to fishing areas. Formal procedures for terminating conflict between districts involved payments of valuables and land by the loosing to the winning side. Fighting involved surprise raids and prearranged meetings on a field of battle. Principle weapons were slings, spears, and clubs. Firearms, introduced late in the nineteenth century, were confiscated by German authorities in 1903. Martial arts included an elaborate system of throws and holds by which an unarmed man could kill, maim or disarm an armed opponent.’
[1]
’Fighting skills in aboriginal times included knowledge of the manufacture as well [Page 54] as of the use of the various weapons: the club, spear, sling, knuckle-duster, and in more recent time the knife and rifle. Of great importance, too, was a knowledge of the various holds in a system of hand-to-hand encounter remotely reminiscent of Japanese jiujitsu. To acquire these skills required considerable practice. In aboriginal times the various lineages used to hold periodic month-long training course in their respective meeting houses. Although each political district fought engagements as a united military group, training was given independently by the various lineages. Those present were the men of the lineage, the husbands of its women, and the sons of its men, in conformance with the pattern of confining the transmission of knowledge to one’s children and one’s lineage mates. It is said that by no means everyone knew all of the various weapons nor all of the tricks of hand-to-hand fighting. Knowledge of the proper magic was required in the manufacture of the several weapons and also to increase the effectiveness of their use thereafter. It is not surprising, therefore, that fighting skills were treated in the same way as other types of incorporeal property.’
[2]
[1]: Goodenough, Ward H. and Skoggard, Ian: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Chuuk [2]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1951. “Property, Kin, And Community On Truk”, 53 |
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|
Islanders used slings, spears and clubs: ’Within districts, conflict arose over land, succession to chiefship, theft, adultery, and avenging homicide. Between districts, it arose over attentions to local women by outside men, the status of one district as subordinate to another, and rights of access to fishing areas. Formal procedures for terminating conflict between districts involved payments of valuables and land by the loosing to the winning side. Fighting involved surprise raids and prearranged meetings on a field of battle. Principle weapons were slings, spears, and clubs. Firearms, introduced late in the nineteenth century, were confiscated by German authorities in 1903. Martial arts included an elaborate system of throws and holds by which an unarmed man could kill, maim or disarm an armed opponent.’
[1]
’Fighting skills in aboriginal times included knowledge of the manufacture as well [Page 54] as of the use of the various weapons: the club, spear, sling, knuckle-duster, and in more recent time the knife and rifle. Of great importance, too, was a knowledge of the various holds in a system of hand-to-hand encounter remotely reminiscent of Japanese jiujitsu. To acquire these skills required considerable practice. In aboriginal times the various lineages used to hold periodic month-long training course in their respective meeting houses. Although each political district fought engagements as a united military group, training was given independently by the various lineages. Those present were the men of the lineage, the husbands of its women, and the sons of its men, in conformance with the pattern of confining the transmission of knowledge to one’s children and one’s lineage mates. It is said that by no means everyone knew all of the various weapons nor all of the tricks of hand-to-hand fighting. Knowledge of the proper magic was required in the manufacture of the several weapons and also to increase the effectiveness of their use thereafter. It is not surprising, therefore, that fighting skills were treated in the same way as other types of incorporeal property.’
[2]
[1]: Goodenough, Ward H. and Skoggard, Ian: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Chuuk [2]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1951. “Property, Kin, And Community On Truk”, 53 |
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According to a military historian (this needs confirmation from a Mauryan specialist) slings were present.
[1]
Soldiers from the hills also seemed to be armed with stones as a missile weapon.
[2]
[1]: Gabriel, Richard A. The great armies of antiquity. p. 218-220 [2]: Singh, Sarva Daman. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1989. p. 19 |
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Carolingian period: "Carolingian military organization was based primarily on that of their Merovingian predecessors, who had built on later Roman institutions ... Archers and slingers fighting on foot supported the battle line."
[1]
[1]: (Bachrach 2001, x) Barnard S Bachrach. 2001. Early Carolingian Warfare: Prelude to Empire. University of Pennsylvania Press. Philadelphia. |
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David Baker says present.
[1]
Carolingian period: "Carolingian military organization was based primarily on that of their Merovingian predecessors, who had built on later Roman institutions ... Archers and slingers fighting on foot supported the battle line."
[2]
[1]: David Baker. Personal communication to Seshat Databank. [2]: (Bachrach 2001, x) Barnard S Bachrach. 2001. Early Carolingian Warfare: Prelude to Empire. University of Pennsylvania Press. Philadelphia. |
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Used in earlier periods.
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Used in earlier periods.
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Slingers were an important part of Bronze-Age Canaanite and Iron-Age Israelite armies; they were also attested to in Carthage, much later.
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Slingers were used in Charlemagne’s army.
[1]
"Carolingian military organization was based primarily on that of their Merovingian predecessors, who had built on later Roman institutions." and "Archers and slingers fighting on foot supported the battle line."
[2]
[1]: (Halsall 2003, 150) Halsall, Guy. 2003. Warfare and Society in the Barbarian West, 450-900. Routledge. London. [2]: (Bachrach 2001, x) Barnard S Bachrach. 2001. Early Carolingian Warfare: Prelude to Empire. University of Pennsylvania Press. Philadelphia. |
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"...slings may well have been used for greater distance."
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 112) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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Carolingian period: "Carolingian military organization was based primarily on that of their Merovingian predecessors, who had built on later Roman institutions ... Archers and slingers fighting on foot supported the battle line."
[1]
[1]: (Bachrach 2001, x) Barnard S Bachrach. 2001. Early Carolingian Warfare: Prelude to Empire. University of Pennsylvania Press. Philadelphia. |
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Carolingian period: "Carolingian military organization was based primarily on that of their Merovingian predecessors, who had built on later Roman institutions ... Archers and slingers fighting on foot supported the battle line."
[1]
[1]: (Bachrach 2001, x) Barnard S Bachrach. 2001. Early Carolingian Warfare: Prelude to Empire. University of Pennsylvania Press. Philadelphia. |
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slingshots
[1]
"Round and ovoid sling pellets have been dug up in early Sumer and Turkestan. Ovoid sling pellets have been unearthed at the neolithic sites on the Iranian tableland. In later times, the sling was used in Palestine and Syria. It was introduced in Egypt at a still later date."
[2]
[1]: Rutkowski 2007, 21 [2]: (Singh 1997, 90) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. |
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Silings, initially used for hunting, had acquired a military role by the 15th century BCE.
[1]
Sling bullets were initially rounded stones and pebbles but towards the end of the Mycenaean period lead bullets also appeared.
[1]: Georganas,I. "Weapons and warfare," in Cline, E. (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean (ca. 3000-1000 BC), Oxford, 308 |
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Slings had been present since the Chalcolithic.
[1]
"Round and ovoid sling pellets have been dug up in early Sumer and Turkestan. Ovoid sling pellets have been unearthed at the neolithic sites on the Iranian tableland. In later times, the sling was used in Palestine and Syria. It was introduced in Egypt at a still later date."
[2]
According to a military historian (a polity specialist needs to check this data): 4000 BCE in the Middle East and southeastern Europe: "sling, dagger, mace, and bow are common weapons".
[3]
[1]: (Forouzan et al. 2012: 3534) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/ainsworth/items/itemKey/Q5RVEPUU. [2]: (Singh 1997, 90) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. [3]: (Gabriel 2007, xii) Richard A Gabriel. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Ancient World. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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Slings had been present since the Chalcolithic.
[1]
Before the Archaemenid king Cyrus (c600 BCE), Persian light infantry carried only the bow and sling.
[2]
[1]: (Forouzan et al. 2012: 3534) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/ainsworth/items/itemKey/Q5RVEPUU. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 162-163 Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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Many ancient armies used slingers. Vulnerable to counter-attacks, slinger units were usually small and used at the start of the battle. Because of the training required to produce and effective slinger they were often hired mercenaries.
[1]
The Seleucids used slinger.
[2]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 31) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [2]: Kosmin, P. J. 2013. Alexander the Great and the Seleucids in Iran. In, Potts, D. T (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.671-689. p.680 |
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Present in previous and subsequent polities.
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"Round and ovoid sling pellets have been dug up in early Sumer and Turkestan. Ovoid sling pellets have been unearthed at the neolithic sites on the Iranian tableland. In later times, the sling was used in Palestine and Syria. It was introduced in Egypt at a still later date."
[1]
4500 BCE: "Sling invented at Catal Huyuk in Anatolia."
[2]
Early Sumer was c4500 BCE but also found at ’neolithic sites’ earlier than this.
[1]: (Singh 1997, 90) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. [2]: (Gabriel 2007, xii) Richard A Gabriel. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Ancient World. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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Archaeologist have found sling bullets at the Chalcolithic site of Chogha Gavaneh dating from 5000-4000 BCE.
[1]
"Round and ovoid sling pellets have been dug up in early Sumer and Turkestan. Ovoid sling pellets have been unearthed at the neolithic sites on the Iranian tableland. In later times, the sling was used in Palestine and Syria. It was introduced in Egypt at a still later date."
[2]
4500 BCE: "Sling invented at Catal Huyuk in Anatolia."
[3]
Early Sumer was c4500 BCE but also found at ’neolithic sites’ earlier than this.
[1]: (Forouzan et al. 2012: 3534) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/ainsworth/items/itemKey/Q5RVEPUU. [2]: (Singh 1997, 90) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. [3]: (Gabriel 2007, xii) Richard A Gabriel. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Ancient World. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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|
Archaeologist have found sling bullets at the Chalcolithic site of Chogha Gavaneh dating from 5000-4000 BCE.
[1]
"Round and ovoid sling pellets have been dug up in early Sumer and Turkestan. Ovoid sling pellets have been unearthed at the neolithic sites on the Iranian tableland. In later times, the sling was used in Palestine and Syria. It was introduced in Egypt at a still later date."
[2]
4500 BCE: "Sling invented at Catal Huyuk in Anatolia."
[3]
Early Sumer was c4500 BCE but also found at ’neolithic sites’ earlier than this.
[1]: (Forouzan et al. 2012: 3534) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/5GSTDKNJ. [2]: (Singh 1997, 90) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. [3]: (Gabriel 2007, xii) Richard A Gabriel. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Ancient World. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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|
Slings had been present since the Chalcolithic.
[1]
Before the Archaemenid king Cyrus (c600 BCE), Persian light infantry carried only the bow and sling.
[2]
[1]: (Forouzan et al. 2012: 3534) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/ainsworth/items/itemKey/Q5RVEPUU. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 162-163 Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
|
Slings had been present since the Chalcolithic.
[1]
Before the Archaemenid king Cyrus (c600 BCE), Persian light infantry carried only the bow and sling.
[2]
[1]: (Forouzan et al. 2012: 3534) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/ainsworth/items/itemKey/Q5RVEPUU. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 162-163 Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
|
Slings had been present since the Chalcolithic.
[1]
Before the Archaemenid king Cyrus (c600 BCE), Persian light infantry carried only the bow and sling.
[2]
[1]: (Forouzan et al. 2012: 3534) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/ainsworth/items/itemKey/Q5RVEPUU. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 162-163 Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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"Round and ovoid sling pellets have been dug up in early Sumer and Turkestan. Ovoid sling pellets have been unearthed at the neolithic sites on the Iranian tableland. In later times, the sling was used in Palestine and Syria. It was introduced in Egypt at a still later date."
[1]
The lament for Sumer and Ur mentions large stones fired from slings in the battle for Ur
[2]
Before the Archaemenid king Cyrus (c600 BCE), Persian light infantry carried only the bow and sling.
[3]
[1]: (Singh 1997, 90) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. [2]: Hamblin, W. J. 2006. Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC. New York: Routledge. [3]: (Gabriel 2002, 162-163 Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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"Round and ovoid sling pellets have been dug up in early Sumer and Turkestan. Ovoid sling pellets have been unearthed at the neolithic sites on the Iranian tableland. In later times, the sling was used in Palestine and Syria. It was introduced in Egypt at a still later date."
[1]
[1]: (Singh 1997, 90) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. |
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"Round and ovoid sling pellets have been dug up in early Sumer and Turkestan. Ovoid sling pellets have been unearthed at the neolithic sites on the Iranian tableland. In later times, the sling was used in Palestine and Syria. It was introduced in Egypt at a still later date."
[1]
According to a military historian (a polity specialist needs to check this data): 4000 BCE in the Middle East and southeastern Europe: "sling, dagger, mace, and bow are common weapons".
[2]
[1]: (Singh 1997, 90) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. [2]: (Gabriel 2007, xii) Richard A Gabriel. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Ancient World. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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|
Archaeologist have found sling bullets at the Chalcolithic site of Chogha Gavaneh dating from 5000-4000 BCE.
[1]
"Round and ovoid sling pellets have been dug up in early Sumer and Turkestan. Ovoid sling pellets have been unearthed at the neolithic sites on the Iranian tableland. In later times, the sling was used in Palestine and Syria. It was introduced in Egypt at a still later date."
[2]
According to a military historian (a polity specialist needs to check this data): 4000 BCE in the Middle East and southeastern Europe: "sling, dagger, mace, and bow are common weapons".
[3]
[1]: (Forouzan et al. 2012: 3534) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/ainsworth/items/itemKey/Q5RVEPUU. [2]: (Singh 1997, 90) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. [3]: (Gabriel 2007, xii) Richard A Gabriel. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Ancient World. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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Slings found at battle sites from the Early Bronze Age and "continued to be used by various cultures into the Middle Ages."
[1]
[1]: (Howard 2011: 27) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GRTPCZB4. |
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|
Many ancient armies used slingers. Vulnerable to counter-attacks, slinger units were usually small and used at the start of the battle. Because of the training required to produce and effective slinger they were often hired mercenaries.
[1]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 31) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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According to a military historian (can a Roman expert confirm whether the data applies to this polity?) many ancient armies used slingers. Vulnerable to counter-attacks, slinger units were usually small and used at the start of the battle. Because of the training required to produce and effective slinger they were often hired mercenaries.
[1]
Stones.
[2]
Perhaps carried by Servian classes IV and V.
[3]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 31) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [2]: (Cornell 1995, 179) [3]: (Fields 2011) |
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"Slings, used to hurl fist-sized rocks or spheres of clay shaped roughly like miniature rugby balls, also appeared during the Yaoi age, distributed in a geographic pattern that suggests mutually exclusive regional preferences for the sling or the bow."
[1]
[1]: (Friday 2004, 68) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York. |
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"Slings, used to hurl fist-sized rocks or spheres of clay shaped roughly like miniature rugby balls, also appeared during the Yaoi age, distributed in a geographic pattern that suggests mutually exclusive regional preferences for the sling or the bow."
[1]
[1]: (Friday 2004, 68) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York. |
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"Slings, used to hurl fist-sized rocks or spheres of clay shaped roughly like miniature rugby balls, also appeared during the Yaoi age, distributed in a geographic pattern that suggests mutually exclusive regional preferences for the sling or the bow."
[1]
[1]: (Friday 2004, 68) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York. |
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|
"Slings, used to hurl fist-sized rocks or spheres of clay shaped roughly like miniature rugby balls, also appeared during the Yaoi age, distributed in a geographic pattern that suggests mutually exclusive regional preferences for the sling or the bow."
[1]
[1]: (Friday 2004, 68) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York. |
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Slings were used in warfare
[1]
[2]
.
[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pg. 70. [2]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pg. 273. |
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|
"Slings, used to hurl fist-sized rocks or spheres of clay shaped roughly like miniature rugby balls, also appeared during the Yaoi age, distributed in a geographic pattern that suggests mutually exclusive regional preferences for the sling or the bow."
[1]
[1]: (Friday 2004, 68) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York. |
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"Troops also included archers and soldiers armed with slings and ovoid stones, probably mainly recruited among the hunters and fishermen of the south."
[1]
maceheads
[2]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 187-188) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. [2]: Postgate 2007, 30-31 |
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Inferred from the presence of slings in previous and subsequent polities in the Middle Yellow River Valley Known from the Zhou period, when: "The conscripted foot soldiers wore sheepskin jackets and used slings and bows with bronze-tipped arrows."
[1]
[1]: (Meyer 1994, 132) Milton Walter Meyer. 1994. China: A Concise History. Second Edition, Revised. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Lanham. |
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"Round and ovoid sling pellets have been dug up in early Sumer and Turkestan. Ovoid sling pellets have been unearthed at the neolithic sites on the Iranian tableland. In later times, the sling was used in Palestine and Syria. It was introduced in Egypt at a still later date."
[1]
[1]: (Singh 1997, 90) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. |
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|
Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include slings. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias. Moreover, Spanish documents record the use of slings at the end of the Monte Alban V period.
[2]
David Carballo (pers. comm.) wrote that slings for projecting stone and ceramic slingshots were present.
[3]
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. [2]: Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People. New York. p217-8 [3]: (Carballo, David. Personal Communication with Jill Levine, Dan Hoyer, and Peter Turchin. Email. April 2020) |
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|
Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include slings. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias. Moreover, Spanish documents record the use of slings at the end of the Monte Alban V period.
[2]
David Carballo (pers. comm.) wrote that slings for projecting stone and ceramic slingshots were present.
[3]
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. [2]: Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People. New York. p217-8 [3]: (Carballo, David. Personal Communication with Jill Levine, Dan Hoyer, and Peter Turchin. Email. April 2020) |
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|
Listed by Hassig.
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 248) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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|
"Slings continued to be used but, as commoner weapons, they were not depicted in Teotihuacan art."
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 47) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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|
"...[the armor]was very effective against slingstones which relied on impact rather than penetration, and this protection grew as atlatl fire forced slingers back to greater and less effective distances."
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 82) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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|
the small, round stone balls excavated from Late/Terminal Formative sites in the Basin of Mexico and across Mesoamerica as sling stones.
[1]
[2]
increased frequency of groundstone balls (3-10cm) found in Late/terminal Formative; these represent either slings or bolas
[2]
[1]: Hassig, Ross. (1992). "War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica." Berkeley: University of California Press, p.28-9. [2]: Tolstoy, Paul (1971). "Utilitarian Artifacts of Central Mexico." In The Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 10, ed. G. F. Ekholm, and I. Bernal. Austin: University of Texas Press, 270-296. |
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|
Slings were used in warfare
[1]
[2]
.
[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pg. 70. [2]: Kirch, P. V. 1985. Feathered Gods and Fishhooks: An Introduction to Hawaiian Archaeology and Prehistory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pg. 273. |
||||||
|
The small, round stone balls excavated from Late/Terminal Formative sites in the Basin of Mexico and across Mesoamerica as sling stones.
[1]
[2]
increased frequency of groundstone balls (3-10cm) found in Late/terminal Formative; these represent either slings or bolas
[2]
[1]: Hassig, Ross. (1992). "War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica." Berkeley: University of California Press, p.28-9. [2]: Tolstoy, Paul (1971). "Utilitarian Artifacts of Central Mexico." In The Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 10, ed. G. F. Ekholm, and I. Bernal. Austin: University of Texas Press, 270-296. |
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|
Sling stones used for hunting could have been used for warfare. Known from the Zhou period, when: "The conscripted foot soldiers wore sheepskin jackets and used slings and bows with bronze-tipped arrows."
[1]
’ Sling stones used for hunting could have been used for warfare. "Polished stone tools are abundant at Wangwan III sites. It appears that specific forms of tools were made for particular functions, such as shovels for digging, knives, and lian 镰 sickles for harvesting, and grinding stones and slabs for processing millet. No doubt the wide use of sickles greatly increased crop yields while pits plastered with lime provided good storage for cereals. There were other specialized tools as well such as axes, adzes, chisels, and zuan 钻 drills for woodwork; mao 矛 spears projectile points, arrowheads ,and sling stones (danwan 弹丸) for hunting; barbs (gou 钩), net weights (wangzhui 网坠), and darts (yubiao 鱼镖) for fishing; anvils (paizi 拍子) for pottery-making; and needles and spindle whorls for preparing cloth. These various implements clearly show that agriculture was supplemented by hunting and gathering."
[2]
[1]: (Meyer 1994, 132) Milton Walter Meyer. 1994. China: A Concise History. Second Edition, Revised. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Lanham. [2]: (Zhao 2013, 249) |
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|
"Most Aztec arms had been used by earlier groups [the main Aztec projectile weapons were atlatls, bows, and slings".EXTERNAL_INLINE_REFERENCE: ;(Hassig 1992: 137) Seshat URL: EXTERNAL_INLINE_LINK: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG .;
|
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|
Certainly known from the following Zhou period, when: "The conscripted foot soldiers wore sheepskin jackets and used slings and bows with bronze-tipped arrows."
[1]
[1]: (Meyer 1994, 132) Milton Walter Meyer. 1994. China: A Concise History. Second Edition, Revised. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Lanham. |
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|
[The evidence here is problematic. The only evidence is from a later recorded saga and it seems to suggest that slings were in use for the whole period. There is no archaeological evidence as they were made from leather.]
|
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|
’The Sling. The sling (taiha) is said to have been once a genuine weapon, yet the early reports contain no mention of it as being used by the hostile natives. W. E. Armit speaks of the men of the Upper Kumusi and Yodda river as ‘stone-throwers and rushing natives’, but other stories tell of the natives sometimes attacking with no weapons save large stones which they had picked up on the track, and there is no reason to suppose that the stone-throwers mentioned by Mr. Armit threw with anything but their hands. Now, at any rate, the sling is little more than a toy, though why elderly men should sometimes carry these playthings in their bags I have not been able to discover. In the typical example the pouch is of roughly netted string (Plate XVIIIb). Of the attached strings one is in the form of a loop, which is passed round a finger; the other is released in throwing.’
[1]
Slings were assumed present despite of the ambiguities in Williams’ account. This remains in need of further confirmation.
[1]: Williams, F. E. (Francis Edgar), and Hubert Murray. 1930. “Orokaiva Society.”, 83 |
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|
The Sling. The sling (taiha) is said to have been once a genuine weapon, yet the early reports contain no mention of it as being used by the hostile natives. W. E. Armit speaks of the men of the Upper Kumusi and Yodda river as ‘stone-throwers and rushing natives’, but other stories tell of the natives sometimes attacking with no weapons save large stones which they had picked up on the track, and there is no reason to suppose that the stone-throwers mentioned by Mr. Armit threw with anything but their hands. Now, at any rate, the sling is little more than a toy, though why elderly men should sometimes carry these playthings in their bags I have not been able to discover. In the typical example the pouch is of roughly netted string (Plate XVIIIb). Of the attached strings one is in the form of a loop, which is passed round a finger; the other is released in throwing.
[1]
[1]: Williams, F. E. (Francis Edgar), and Hubert Murray. 1930. “Orokaiva Society.”, 83 |
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|
"Round and ovoid sling pellets have been dug up in early Sumer and Turkestan. Ovoid sling pellets have been unearthed at the neolithic sites on the Iranian tableland. In later times, the sling was used in Palestine and Syria. It was introduced in Egypt at a still later date."
[1]
[1]: (Singh 1997, 90) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. |
||||||
|
If "the first archaeologically recognizable, large post-Indus urban settlements are not earlier than the fifth century BC ... solidly visible states ... appear in a sudden profusion in the late first millennium B.C."
[1]
- who was king Stabrobates of India who used war elephants against a queen of Assyria (considered Shammuramat?) in the 9th century BCE?
[2]
One could infer king Stabrobates, if not based there himself, must have subdued and controlled the Kachi Plain region in order to invade Mesopotamia from ’India’. (Another source says Assyria invaded India and were driven out of Pakistan and India).
[3]
Diodorus Siculus says this too, queen Semiramis was based in Bactra (Bactria?).
[4]
If king Stabrobates’s polity controlled the Kachi Plain, then we code the according to the military technology he possessed. This would have included weapons of war. Note: one military historian estimates that the Assyrian army had a strategic range of 2000 km
[5]
which places the Indus region in reach of their forces.
[1]: (Ahmed 2014, 64) Mukhtar Ahmed. 2014. Ancient Pakistan - An Archaeological History: Volume V: The End of the Harappan Civilization, and the Aftermath. Foursome Group. [2]: (Mayor 2014, 289) Adrienne Mayor. Animals in Warfare. Gordon Lindsay Campbell. ed. 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [3]: (Kistler 2007, 18) John M Kistler. 2007. War Elephants. University of Nebraska Press. Lincoln. [4]: Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Complete Works of Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Classics. [5]: (Gabriel 2002, 9) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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|
Used in the region for at least the previous millennium, and still effective in contemporary militaries such as that of Carthage. “The [Hasmonean] infantry probably included lightly armed units of archers and slingers, semi-heavy infantry units such as the Hellenistic theurophoroi, and heavily armed infantry, organized along similar lines to the late Hellenistic phalanx.”
[1]
A sling bullet dated to the Hasmonean era was found at Beth Zur, the site of a battle between the Seleucid general Lysias and Judah the Maccabbi.
[2]
[1]: Rocca (2008). [2]: Pearlman (1973). |
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|
"The sling is shown being used in assault on towns in the early Middle Kingdom tombs at Beni Hasan. Examples found in the tomb of Tutankhamun were made of linen. Despite its rare appearance in battle scenes, it was probably widely used. [...] A sling shot from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods could be made of lead, and carried inscribed messages for the unfortunate recipient."
[1]
[1]: (Morkot 2010: 222) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/AHFJE5Z2. |
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|
"10th-century Berber forces, though they did not abandon the massed use of infantry slingers against enemy horses, had adopted spear-armed Arab cavalry styles, while of foot many of them used Arab bows."
[1]
The Fatimid arsenals contained slings.
[2]
[1]: (Nicolle 2001, 17) Nicolle, D. 2001. The Moors: The Islamic West 7th-15th Centuries AD. Osprey Publishing. [2]: (Hamblin 2005, 749) Shillington, K. ed. 2005. Encyclopedia of African History: A - G.. 1. Taylor & Francis. |
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|
[The evidence here is problematic. The only evidence is from a later recorded saga and it seems to suggest that slings were in use for the whole period. There is no archaeological evidence as they were made from leather.]
|
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|
Many ancient armies used slingers. Vulnerable to counter-attacks, slinger units were usually small and used at the start of the battle. Because of the training required to produce and effective slinger they were often hired mercenaries.
[1]
“Inscribed sling bullets provide a better parallel to the coinage we are studying. Sling bullets are often inscribed with a personal name, either in the nominative or in the genitive.”
[2]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 31) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [2]: Iossif, P. P and Lorber, C. C. (2010) Hypaithros: A Numismatic Contribution to the Military History of Cappadocia. Historia, Band 59/4, Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart. p444 |
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|
At the site of Can Hasan I, clay sling bullet was found, which may suggest the use of slings.
[1]
4500 BCE: "Sling invented at Catal Huyuk in Anatolia."
[2]
The shape and appearance of the blunt force traumatic injuries identified at Çatalhöyük are consistent with injuries from both handheld blunt objects but also from projectiles - thrown stones or other objects. The number, shape, and location on the top and back of the cranium suggest that objects, thrown or sling-delivered, support an association.
[3]
At the site of Canhasan I, clay sling bullet was found
[4]
, which may suggest the use of slings, but whether it was used for warfare purposes is unknown.
[1]: (French 2010: 44) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/U6GA7BJN. [2]: (Gabriel 2007, xii) Richard A Gabriel. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Ancient World. Greenwood Press. Westport. [3]: Christopher J. Knüsel, Bonnie Glencross, ‘Çatalhöyük, Archaeology, Violence’, ‘’Contagion: Journal of Violence, Mimesis, and Culture’’, Volume 24, 2017, pp. 29-32 [4]: French D. 2010."Canhasan I: The Small Finds", The British Institute at Ankara. pg. 44. |
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"The best-preserved Chalcolithic Anatolian fortress at Mersin, which was strongly fortified with wall, gate and glacis, dating from about 4500. Storefrooms near the gate had piles of slingstones ready for use by defenders […]."
[1]
Sling.
[2]
[2]
Sling bullets.
[3]
Sling pellets (Yumuktepe).
[4]
4500 BCE: "Sling invented at Catal Huyuk in Anatolia."
[5]
4000 BCE in the Middle East and southeastern Europe: "sling, dagger, mace, and bow are common weapons".
[5]
[1]: (Hamblin 2006: 286) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/4WM3RBTD. [2]: The Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Ages in the Near East and Anatolia, James Mellaart, KHAYATS Beirut1966, p.102 [3]: Excavations at Can Hasan, 1965: Fifth Preliminary Report, D. H. French Source: Anatolian Studies, Vol. 16 1966, British Institute at Ankara, pp. 116 [4]: Yumuktepe Höyüğü 2010 Isabella CANEVA - Gülgün KÖROĞLU,News of Archaeology from ANATOLIA’S MEDITERRANEAN AREAS, 2011-9, pp.137 [5]: (Gabriel 2007, xii) Richard A Gabriel. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Ancient World. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
||||||
|
Unlikely in use at this time.
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||||||
|
Used in earlier periods.
|
||||||
|
[1]
Many ancient armies used slingers. Vulnerable to counter-attacks, slinger units were usually small and used at the start of the battle. Because of the training required to produce an effective slinger they were often hired mercenaries.
[2]
[1]: Webber, C. (2003) Odrysian Cavalry, Army, Equipment and Tactics. Bar International Series 1139, pp. 529-554. p549 [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 31) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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Present for the Indus Valley Civilization: "Commonest among the weapons of offence and defence in the Indus valley are sling pellets of baked clay."
[1]
[1]: (Singh 1997, 90) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. |
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|
At Çatalhöyük clay balls have been interpreted as sling ammunition."The use of the sling is alos attested in wall art that features a purported slinger."
[1]
[1]: (Knüsel: Glencross and Milella 2019: 83) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/WH6NHDHM. |
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|
"At Çatalhöyük clay balls have been interpreted as sling ammunition. "The use of the sling is alos attested in wall art that features a purported slinger."
[1]
According to a military historian (this data needs to be checked by a polity specialist) 4500 BCE: "Sling invented at Catal Huyuk in Anatolia."
[2]
The shape and appearance of the blunt force traumatic injuries identified at Çatalhöyük are consistent with injuries from both handheld blunt objects but also from projectiles - thrown stones or other objects. The number, shape, and location on the top and back of the cranium suggest that objects, thrown or sling-delivered, support an association.
[3]
At the site of Canhasan I, clay sling bullet was found
[4]
, which may suggest the use of slings, but whether it was used for warfare purposes is unknown.
[1]: (Knüsel: Glencross and Milella 2019: 83) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/WH6NHDHM. [2]: (Gabriel 2007, xii) Richard A Gabriel. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Ancient World. Greenwood Press. Westport. [3]: Christopher J. Knüsel, Bonnie Glencross, ‘Çatalhöyük, Archaeology, Violence’, ‘’Contagion: Journal of Violence, Mimesis, and Culture’’, Volume 24, 2017, pp. 29-32 [4]: French D. 2010."Canhasan I: The Small Finds", The British Institute at Ankara. pg. 44. |
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|
Present for the Indus Valley Civilization: "Commonest among the weapons of offence and defence in the Indus valley are sling pellets of baked clay."
[1]
[1]: (Singh 1997, 90) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. |
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|
Used in earlier periods.
|
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|
According to one military historian (don’t know if a Roman specialist - need to check), many ancient armies used slingers. They were vulnerable to counter-attacks, slinger units were usually small and used at the start of the battle. Because of the training required to produce and effective slinger they were often hired mercenaries.
[1]
Balearic slingers (mercenaries).
[2]
According to Livy, Servian Classes IV and V were skirmishers, who carried a sling.
[3]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 31) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [2]: (Dupuy and Dupuy 2007) [3]: (Fields 2007, 5) |
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|
"The period between the post-Gupta era and the Islamic invasions is generally regarded as a sort of ’quasi Dark Age’ in India ... military historian U. P. Thapliyal asserts that after AD 500, there were no innovations in the theory and practice of warfare."
[1]
Kaushik Roy disagrees with this evaluation I presume with respect to the idea of a lack of new innovation rather than there being a complete shift to new weaponry. Reference for northern India in the 7th century CE: According to Hiuen Tsang (quoted here) the Harsha infantry had ’slings’ and had been ’drilled in them for generations.’
[2]
The Harsha are a post-Gupta era polity so if they used slings and there was no major shift in weaponry until the Islamic invasion then slings were probably still in use at this time.
[1]: (Roy 2013, 27) Kaushik Roy. 2013 Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London. [2]: (Sen 1999, 257) Sailendra Nath Sen. 1999. Ancient Indian History and Civilization. Second Edition. New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers. New Delhi. |
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Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate
[1]
which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.
[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy |
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we need expert input in order to code this variable
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we need expert input in order to code this variable
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Likely unknown.
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Tools or weapons discovered that cannot yet be adequately placed in either category include: bows, spears, lances, axes, boomerangs, staffs, clubs, slings, knives, adzes etc
[1]
[1]: Gilbert, G. P. 2004. Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt. BAR International Series 1208: Oxford. pg: 22-23, 70-71. |
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Not mentioned in the literature.
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No references in the literature. RA.
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Present for earlier Satavahanas but for this time no data.
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Not mentioned by sources in lists of artefacts found at sites in the region dating to this time.
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Not mentioned by sources in lists of artefacts found at sites in the region dating to this time.
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Last reference was for the Satavahana period.
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Last reference was for the Satavahanas.
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Summaries of the development of Egyptian weaponry usually begin with the Late Predynastic. //Tools or weapons discovered that cannot yet be adequately placed in either category include: bows, spears, lances, axes, boomerangs, staffs, clubs, slings, knives, adzes etc
[1]
[2]
[1]: Gilbert, G. P. 2004. Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt. BAR International Series 1208: Oxford. pg: 22-23, 70-71. [2]: K Hoffmeier in D B Redford. ed. 2001. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Oxford. Have been able to discover there is a ’slings and stones’ section in volume P-Z 2: 409-10. |
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Not mentioned in the literature.
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Last reference was for the Satavahanas.
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NB: The following refers to a different era and place. Present for the Indus Valley Civilization: "Commonest among the weapons of offence and defence in the Indus valley are sling pellets of baked clay."
[1]
[1]: (Singh 1997, 90) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. |
||||||
|
"Round and ovoid sling pellets have been dug up in early Sumer and Turkestan. Ovoid sling pellets have been unearthed at the neolithic sites on the Iranian tableland. In later times, the sling was used in Palestine and Syria. It was introduced in Egypt at a still later date."
[1]
[1]: (Singh 1997, 90) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. |
||||||
|
"Round and ovoid sling pellets have been dug up in early Sumer and Turkestan. Ovoid sling pellets have been unearthed at the neolithic sites on the Iranian tableland. In later times, the sling was used in Palestine and Syria. It was introduced in Egypt at a still later date."
[1]
[1]: (Singh 1997, 90) Sarva Daman Singh. 1997. Ancient Indian Warfare: With Special Reference to the Vedic Period. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Delhi. |
||||||
|
Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include slings. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias. Moreover, Spanish documents record the use of slings at the end of the Monte Alban V period.
[2]
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. [2]: Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People. New York. p217-8 |
||||||
|
Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include slings. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias. Moreover, Spanish documents record the use of slings at the end of the Monte Alban V period.
[2]
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. [2]: Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People. New York. p217-8 |
||||||
|
Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include slings. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias. Moreover, Spanish documents record the use of slings at the end of the Monte Alban V period.
[2]
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. [2]: Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People. New York. p217-8 |
||||||
|
Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include slings. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias. Moreover, Spanish documents record the use of slings at the end of the Monte Alban V period.
[2]
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. [2]: Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People. New York. p217-8 |
||||||
|
Relative to this period, sources only mention the atlatl and spears.
[1]
However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so the absence of weapons other than the atlatl and spears in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias. It is also worth noting that Spanish documents record the use of slings at the end of the Monte Alban V period.
[2]
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. [2]: Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People. New York. p217-8 |
||||||
|
Relative to this period, sources only mention the atlatl and spears.
[1]
However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so the absence of weapons other than the atlatl and spears in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias. It is also worth noting that Spanish documents record the use of slings at the end of the Monte Alban V period.
[2]
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. [2]: Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People. New York. p217-8 |
||||||
|
If "the first archaeologically recognizable, large post-Indus urban settlements are not earlier than the fifth century BC ... solidly visible states ... appear in a sudden profusion in the late first millennium B.C."
[1]
- who was king Stabrobates of India who used war elephants against a queen of Assyria (considered Shammuramat?) in the 9th century BCE?
[2]
One could infer king Stabrobates, if not based there himself, must have subdued and controlled the Kachi Plain region in order to invade Mesopotamia from ’India’. (Another source says Assyria invaded India and were driven out of Pakistan and India).
[3]
Diodorus Siculus says this too, queen Semiramis was based in Bactra (Bactria?).
[4]
If king Stabrobates’s polity controlled the Kachi Plain, then we code the according to the military technology he possessed. This would have included weapons of war. Note: one military historian estimates that the Assyrian army had a strategic range of 2000 km
[5]
which places the Indus region in reach of their forces.
[1]: (Ahmed 2014, 64) Mukhtar Ahmed. 2014. Ancient Pakistan - An Archaeological History: Volume V: The End of the Harappan Civilization, and the Aftermath. Foursome Group. [2]: (Mayor 2014, 289) Adrienne Mayor. Animals in Warfare. Gordon Lindsay Campbell. ed. 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [3]: (Kistler 2007, 18) John M Kistler. 2007. War Elephants. University of Nebraska Press. Lincoln. [4]: Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Complete Works of Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Classics. [5]: (Gabriel 2002, 9) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
|
If "the first archaeologically recognizable, large post-Indus urban settlements are not earlier than the fifth century BC ... solidly visible states ... appear in a sudden profusion in the late first millennium B.C."
[1]
- who was king Stabrobates of India who used war elephants against a queen of Assyria (considered Shammuramat?) in the 9th century BCE?
[2]
One could infer king Stabrobates, if not based there himself, must have subdued and controlled the Kachi Plain region in order to invade Mesopotamia from ’India’. (Another source says Assyria invaded India and were driven out of Pakistan and India).
[3]
Diodorus Siculus says this too, queen Semiramis was based in Bactra (Bactria?).
[4]
If king Stabrobates’s polity controlled the Kachi Plain, then we code the according to the military technology he possessed. This would have included weapons of war. Note: one military historian estimates that the Assyrian army had a strategic range of 2000 km
[5]
which places the Indus region in reach of their forces.
[1]: (Ahmed 2014, 64) Mukhtar Ahmed. 2014. Ancient Pakistan - An Archaeological History: Volume V: The End of the Harappan Civilization, and the Aftermath. Foursome Group. [2]: (Mayor 2014, 289) Adrienne Mayor. Animals in Warfare. Gordon Lindsay Campbell. ed. 2014. The Oxford Handbook of Animals in Classical Thought and Life. Oxford University Press. Oxford. [3]: (Kistler 2007, 18) John M Kistler. 2007. War Elephants. University of Nebraska Press. Lincoln. [4]: Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Complete Works of Diodorus Siculus. Delphi Classics. [5]: (Gabriel 2002, 9) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
|
The written sources do not allow us to draw any conclusions concerning the use of the sling in the Hittite army, whereas it seems likely that the enemies of the Hittites made use of this weapon
[1]
.
[1]: Lorenz J. and I. Schrakamp (2011) Hittite Military and Warfare, pp. 138 [In:] H. Genz and D. P. Mielke (ed.) Insights Into Hittite History And Archaeology, Colloquia Antiqua 2, Leuven, Paris, Walpole MA: PEETERS, pp. 125-138 |
||||||
|
The written sources do not allow us to draw any conclusions concerning the use of the sling in the Hittite army, whereas it seems likely that the enemies of the Hittites made use of this weapon
[1]
.
[1]: Lorenz J. and I. Schrakamp (2011) Hittite Military and Warfare, pp. 138 [In:] H. Genz and D. P. Mielke (ed.) Insights Into Hittite History And Archaeology, Colloquia Antiqua 2, Leuven, Paris, Walpole MA: PEETERS, pp. 125-138 |
||||||
|
The written sources do not allow us to draw any conclusions concerning the use of the sling in the Hittite army, whereas it seems likely that the enemies of the Hittites made use of this weapon
[1]
.
[1]: Lorenz J. and I. Schrakamp (2011) Hittite Military and Warfare, pp. 138 [In:] H. Genz and D. P. Mielke (ed.) Insights Into Hittite History And Archaeology, Colloquia Antiqua 2, Leuven, Paris, Walpole MA: PEETERS, pp. 125-138 |
||||||
|
According to a military historian (this data needs to be checked by a polity specialist) 4500 BCE: "Sling invented at Catal Huyuk in Anatolia."
[1]
The shape and appearance of the blunt force traumatic injuries identified at Çatalhöyük are consistent with injuries from both handheld blunt objects but also from projectiles - thrown stones or other objects. The number, shape, and location on the top and back of the cranium suggest that objects, thrown or sling-delivered, support an association.
[2]
[1]: (Gabriel 2007, xii) Richard A Gabriel. 2007. Soldiers’ Lives Through History: The Ancient World. Greenwood Press. Westport. [2]: Christopher J. Knüsel, Bonnie Glencross, ‘Çatalhöyük, Archaeology, Violence’, ‘’Contagion: Journal of Violence, Mimesis, and Culture’’, Volume 24, 2017, pp. 29-32 |
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Present for the expert-checked Fatimid period but there is no explanatory text there to confirm whether they were used beyond the 10th century CE. We currently code unknown for Seljuks and the Second Abbasid Caliphate. Lack of data might indicate absence.
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Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate
[1]
which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.
[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy |
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