<h1>Ancient Artillery</h1>
<h2>The Sling</h2>
Slings are not really an artillery unit, but I would say they are to some extent. A brief history: Slings were known to the Mediterranean Neolithic people, but are more likely to be much older than that. Incan slings made from llama hair could allegedly break a sword or kill a horse. Later, the Incas used slings against the Spanish conquistadors. Artaxerxes II of Persia used slings against the Greeks in 401 BC in the battle of Cunaxa, but the Greeks could not hit the Persians with their arrows or javelins because the Persians were out of range. Later, the Greeks made their own company of sling-men from the Greek colony of Rhodes. Julius Cesar wrote about sling ammunition being heated before battle to set fire to buildings. In Middle Age Europe, sling technology was outdated, and only used as a part of siege engines. The slings were commonly used at hilltop locations, and archeologists have found many sling bullets in European Iron Age forts. Slings were commonly made from a 50-100 cm string made of flax, hemp, or wool with a leather pouch for the ammunition. Slings were very efficient; they could reach 400 meters, that’s farther than a longbow. Slings were also efficient because of cheap ammunition, anything from a stone (like in the bible), to molded lead or clay. Molded lead and clay ammunition were often shaped like large almonds. Another type of sling was the staff/stave sling. The staff/stave sling is a rod with a pouch on it designed to fling much heavier objects than a traditional sling would.
'''Bibliography:''' ''http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sling_%28weapon%29, http://www.redstoneprojects.com/trebuchetstore/sling.html, http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Sling_weapon__The_sling_in_antiquity/id/2116160''
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