Slingshots

"Las obras de ingeniería romana se caracterizan entre otras cosas por responder a una geometría muy cuidada. Las carreteras tienen, cuando el terreno es propicio, alineaciones largas y precisas, sus pendientes son suaves. Las ciudades y los campos se cuadriculaban escrupulosamente llegando a alcanzar las dimensiones de estas parcelaciones tamaños enormes. Pero probablemente los acueductos, esas largas canalizaciones que llevaban el agua desde las fuentes naturales u otras captaciones hasta las ciudades, para el consumo humano, alcancen el paradigma de la perfección geométrica, precisamente porque su funcionamiento está fuertemente condicionado a este factor.
Cuando hemos analizado el proceso constructivo de estas obras y la metodología de replanteo y construcción, nos han asaltado dudas razonables sobre la forma en que los técnicos romanos conseguían medir y construir con precisión cada cosa en su sitio. Estas obras adquieren en ocasiones una complejidad extrema y su realización, incluso hoy y con nuestros medios, sería objeto del máximo esmero y no poca dificultad en su replanteo, de forma que se garantizase su correcto funcionamiento.
Después de cierto tiempo analizando estos extremos, incentivados en buena medida por lo poco que de ello se sabe y lo escasamente convincente que resulta lo propuesto sobre la ciencia topográfica romana, en la mayor parte de los textos modernos escritos al efecto, en este trabajo se expondrá un avance de lo que sobre esta particular temática hemos ido desarrollando.
A la vez que presentaremos alguno de los instrumentos que hemos reconstruido, su funcionamiento y el resultado de las experiencias que con ellos hemos realizado, expondremos someramente algunas de las técnicas que, estando perfectamente al alcance de los especialistas romanos, pudieron ser utilizadas con éxito en sus obras de ingeniería."

Resumen

El presente texto, pretende ampliar la información sobre el uso de la honda como arma en el México Antiguo, haciendo mención sobre los elementos técnicos, materiales y manufactura de la honda en el mundo prehispánico. Las fuentes que nos permiten investigar esta arma en la región son de tipo arqueológico e histórico: desde las figurillas de las Tumbas de Tiro hasta las fuentes históricas coloniales, tales como crónicas, diccionarios de lenguas indígenas y códices. La información más abundante corresponde al período inmediatamente anterior a la llegada de los españoles, la cual nos permite saber el nombre de la honda dado por distintos grupos étnicos, los lugares donde se usaba, el origen social de los honderos, su carga simbólica, su importancia como atavío, el grave daño que provocaban los proyectiles lanzados, así como su uso en la época colonial.

Palabras Clave: Guerra, Armas, Prehispánico, Conquista, México


Abstract

This text aims to expand the information on the use of the sling as a weapon in Ancient Mexico, making mention of the technical elements, materials and manufacture of the sling in the pre-Hispanic world. The sources that allow us to investigate this weapon in the region are archaeological and historical: from the figurines of the Tombs of Tire to colonial historical sources, such as chronicles, dictionaries of indigenous languages and codices. The most abundant information corresponds to the period immediately prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, which allows us to know the name of the sling given by different ethnic groups, the places where it was used, the social origin of the slingers, its symbolic load, its importance as an attire, the serious damage caused by the projectiles launched, as well as their use in colonial times.

Key Words: Warfare, Weapons, Pre-Hispanic, Conquest, Mexico


CARVAJAL MEDINA, RICARDO. “La honda y los honderos en Mesoamérica”, en: “Tempo. Revista de ciencias sociales y humanidades”, Morelia, enero-junio, año 9, núm. 16, 2021, Pp. 11-23.

Оловни тежести за прашка с надписи от РИМ-Шумен. Нови данни за македонските походи в земите на гетите от времето на Филип II и Александър III.
Емил Нанков
/резюме/
Изминаха близо 20 години от фундаменталната статия на покойния Георги Атанасов, който беше един от малкото български археолози, посветили усилия и внимание върху изучаването на този често недооценяван елемент от въоръжението в античността. Предмет на настоящето съобщение са десет оловни тежести за прашка с надписи, съхранявани в колекцията на РИМ-Шумен. Докато три от тях, публикувани от Г. Атанасов и Т. Тодоров през 1997 г., са вече известни на науката (произхождащи от с. Браничево, Шуменско и с. Водица, Варненско), останалите седем (произхождащи от с. Желъд и с. Преселка, Шуменско) се обнародват тук за първи път.
В девет от случаите става въпрос за оловни тежести с бадемовидна форма, изработени в двойни калъпи (най-вероятно от глина), върху които личат лични имена в родителен падеж, изписани с гръцки букви в нисък релеф. За целта древните майстори е трябвало да изпишат предварително и ретроградно съответното име върху все още неизпечения глинен калъп. Засвидетелствани са имената както на македонски царе, така и на известни и досега неизвестни от територията на България македонски военачалници и наместници, които са имали зачислен контингент от прашкари в армиите на Филип II и Александър III. Оловните тежести са разгледани като материално доказателство за няколкократните македонски походи в земите на гетите през къснокласическата и ранноелинистическата епохи, информация за които откриваме в писмените извори, маркиращо по категоричен начин тяхния път на проникване и изтегляне. При само един екземпляр става въпрос за късноелинистическа тежест, съдържаща идиоматична фраза на гръцки език, адресирана към противника, която намира неочаквано близък паралел с публикувана тежест от с. Илинденци, Благоевградско.
Веднага подчертавам, че от съображения за представителност подхождам селективно към една безспорно важна и непрекъснато растяща база данни и акцентирам само върху тежестите с надпис, притежаващи по-богат потенциал за исторически анализ. Останалите 27 екземпляра ще бъдат включени и анализирани в бъдещата монография на автора, посветена на бойната прашка в древна Тракия.

"Lead slingshots discovered on Cretan sites carry considerable weight regarding the nature of warfare on the island in the Late Classical and Hellenistic periods. On Crete, inscribed lead sling bullets have been reported from nine archaeological sites while a further inscribed slingshot, issued by the Phalasarnians, has been discovered on the neighbouring island of Antikythera.
Text on slingshots was conceived of, and cast as, an integral component of the weapon, thereby representing a fundamental aspect of the weapon’s design. Slingshots bearing text are illuminating artefacts as not only can they reflect military action, leadership and civic affiliations, but they also raise questions regarding literacy levels within the forces and prompt debate concerning the psychological potential of such communications. It is the purpose of this paper to present the growing corpus of Cretan material against a wider backdrop of evidence, with a view to understanding the overarching role and purpose of such inscribed communications and to assess the degree of Cretan conformity with, or deviation from, broader military trends.
"

Lead sling bullets are often inscribed with the personal names of military commanders of a unit of slingers. Archaeological sites that have yielded such projectiles provide an opportunity to link the names attested with historical figures known from literary sources. A classic example presents the city of Olynthus that was besieged and taken through treachery by the troops of Philip II of Macedon in 348 BC. Irrefutable evidence of this is provided by the hundreds of sling bullets bearing his name, along with those of several commanders from his army, such as Hipponikos, Potalos, Kleoboulos and Anaxandros. The present article evaluates the significance of inscribed sling bullets as a basic source in reconstructing historical events related to the Macedonian expansion in Thrace during the reign of Philip II. Through the discussion of a number of examples from Thrace, Macedonia and Northern Aegean, including previously unpublished finds, I argue that these objects can serve as a reliable marker of Macedonian mobility abroad. As a major source on the subject I further analyze the primary data generated as a result of the recent archaeological excavations of the Thracian fortified complex near Kozi Gramadi, located in south central Bulgaria. On a broader level, the present survey aims to reinforce the value of sling bullets as a necessary object of study which on account of their multi-layered nature should invite the application of an integrated approach towards antiquity by combining data from archaeology, history and epigraphy.

The purpose of this communication is to briefly discuss the role of a little-known military commander of Philip II's army in the context of the Macedonian expansion in Thrace. Demetrius is mentioned as Philip's admiral during the siege of Byzantium in 340 BC by Dionysius of Byzantium (Anaplus of the Bosporus 65). The lead sling bullets published here, bearing the name Demetrius and originating from the villages of Zhelad, Shumen district, the regions of Pavlikeni and Razgrad-Omurtag, as well as from Selymbria (modern Silivri), strongly confirm his participation in the campaigns of Philip II not only in the Propontis region, but also in the West Black sea coast and in Northeastern Thrace. Thus Demetrius would become the second Macedonian commander, together with the well-known Hipponikos, who are securely attested in a combination of historical, epigraphic and archaeological data. Future discoveries of sling bullets with Demetrius' name could also serve as a reliable benchmark for identifying other historically unknown Macedonian commanders who took part in Philip II's military campaigns.

Two lead sling bullets were uncovered during the excavations of the western wing of the Qish-le complex. They were found together with clay vessel fragments dated to the Hasmonean period, with some dated to the Herodian period (Stratum V). Description 1. M3-3320, L.317; no. 2424 L: 32 mm; W: 12 mm.; Th: 11 mm.; weight 34 gr. Undecorated. 2. M3-3320; L.273; no. 2238 L: 30 mm.; W: 20 mm.; Th: 11 mm.; weight 32 gr. Decoration: side A: winged thunderbolt; side B: trident; at one end, depression from a strike.

Arrowheads and sling projectiles that are found in destruction layers serve as good evidence for conflict as the cause of the destruction. However, the absence of long-range weapons from a destruction layer should not rule out conflict as the cause of
the destruction, for two main reasons. Firstly, such long-range weapons will be found only in places where actual conflict took place, and they could have remained undiscovered in an area that has not been excavated. Secondly, a siege battle is only one way to subdue a city, and other ways such as negotiations or the
use of stratagems would not necessarily require the use of bows and slings. Furthermore, there are some destruction layers that have been extensively excavated and clearly result from military campaign, and yet did not yield any evidence for siege warfare. Since it is most likely in these cases that no battle took place, it is clear that the destruction was a pre-meditated and well-planned
decision. This highlights the idea that conquest and destruction are two independent, and not necessarily related,
actions. Finally, as destruction layers with signifijicant quantities
of long-range weapons are rare before the Iron Age IIB, it is
suggested that siege warfare was not very common before this
period, and that in earlier periods other methods were preferred
in order to subdue a city.

The aim of this paper is to question the location of the ancient Lauro south of the Ebro river, a city besieged in 76 BC by Quintus Sertorius. The analysis of the historical and archaeological documentation allows us to locate the city to the north of the Ebro river, specifically at the Puig del Castell site (Barcelona), where the Lauro mint has been located.

Little is known about ranged weapons in pre-modern India such as slingshots and catapults, the crossbow and early cannon. To a certain extent, the scarcity of pertinent sources will undeniably help to explain our lack of knowledge connected to the subject, but it is equally true that texts with unquestionable significance have largely been ignored by historical military research on India. Among those neglected sources the
Rājataraṅgiṇīs and the Mokṣopāya rank first. Not only do they testify to the existence of such weapons in medieval Kashmir, but the context of the fighting events detailed by their authors also allows to draw conclusions with sufficient certainty about the actual use in combat and the lethal impact of the arms under consideration, which are made the subject of the present paper.

El estudio y análisis del complejo sistema de fosos del yacimiento de Los Castellazos, en Mediana de Aragón, Zaragoza, ha llevado a identificar a la honda como una de las armas más utilizadas por la república de Roma para el ataque y asalto de fortificaciones. Para ello se ha realizado el cálculo del alcance de los proyectiles de honda, llegan-do a la conclusión de que la presencia de defensas exteriores alejadas de los recintos defensivos tiene su explicación en la necesidad de defenderse de esta arma, sobre todo a partir de finales del siglo III y comienzos del siglo II a. C.

The study and analysis of the complex system of moats around Los Castellazos site (Mediana de Aragón, Zaragoza) has made possible to identify the sling as one of the most popular weapon to attack and besiege fortifications during the Roman Republic. For this, a calculation of the range of the projectiles was carried out. To conclude, the need for protection from this weapon explains the existence of outer defences, distant from the defensive enclosures , especially from the end of the 3rd Century B.C. and the beginning of the 2nd.

El estudio y análisis del complejo sistema de fosos del yacimiento de Los Castellazos, en Mediana de Aragón, Zaragoza, ha llevado a identificar a la honda como una de las armas más utilizadas por la república de Roma para el ataque y asalto de fortificaciones. Para ello se ha realizado el cálculo del alcance de los proyectiles de honda, llegando a la conclusión de que la presencia de defensas exteriores alejadas de los recintos defensivos tiene su explicación en la necesidad de defenderse de esta arma, sobre todo a partir de finales del siglo III y comienzos del siglo II a. C.

Reconstrucción del trazado y las características de la conducción de agua potable a la antigua Segisamone romana, hoy Sasamón (Burgos), así como dar noticia del aprovechamiento termal de las aguas en el mismo punto de la captación del propio abastecimiento.
Durante la descripción se dará cuenta del acertado planeamiento de la obra, del aprovechamiento integral del recurso hídrico, elemento fundamental en el proceso civilizador de la cultura romana y de la calidad del producto captado.

An inconspicious monument of the Bronze Age. Hradištský vrch near Písek-a hillfort dating to the transition period between the Middle and Late Bronze Age. The investigations of a so-far rather neglected hillfort on the hill of Hradištský vrch near Písek have revealed a number of interesting findings. Its extent, which was only determined with the help of airborne laser scanning, ranks it as the largest Bronze Age hillfort in South Bohemia. At the same time, it is the only well-documented hillfort dating to the transition period between Middle and Late Bronze Age in the region. Its system of transverse ramparts on the southern side, in front of the perimeter fortification, is especially unique. It is one of the ascertained striking elements which seem to support the hypothesis about its military (or rather defensive) significance. There was also convincing evidence of metallurgical activities within its premises.

This short paper is in Italian, with an abstract in English and Turkish. It presents eight sling bullets with Greek inscriptions belonging to the collection of Berna Oǧuz in Izmir (Turkey), dating from the fourth century to the late Hellenistic period (perhaps second-first century B.C.). In addition there is another sling bullet, with a Latin inscription, housed in Museum of Izmir. The paper report furthermore about the existence of others sling bullets in the Museums Ödemiş, Akhisar and Balıkesir.

V zadnjih štirih stoletjih pred našim štetjem so se v Posočju spojile tri kulture: domača posoška kultura starejše železne dobe, ki jo najbolje poznamo na podlagi velikega grobišča in naselja na Mostu na Soči, italska kultura z Apeninskega polotoka in keltska iz srednje Evrope. Pestre najdbe iz tistega časa so odkrili zlasti na grobiščih, od katerih je najpomembnejše na Idriji pri Bači, in v svetiščih, na primer nad Kobaridom in na Šentviški planoti.
Izstopajo predmeti z venetskimi in italskimi napisi, srebrne pletene ovratnice, za Posočje značilne fibule z živalsko glavico, raznovrstne bronaste posode, konjska in konjeniška oprema in železno poljedelsko orodje (na primer kose, lemeži, črtala in koničaste kopače), najdeno v grobovih in zakladih.

The paper shows that it is possible to obtain a "slingshot" result in Gödel's theory of positiveness in the presence of the theorem of the necessary existence of God. In the context of the reconstruction of Gödel's original "slingshot" argument on the suppositions of non-Fregean logic, this is a natural result. The "slingshot" result occurs in sufficiently strong non-Fregean theories accepting the necessary existence of some entities. However, this feature of a Gödelian theory may be considered not as a trivialisation, but as an intended consequence of Gödel's ontotheological views. (http://semper.istore.pl/pl/p/Goedels-Ontological-Argument/23076163; https://philpapers.org/rec/KOVGQA)