They were dressed in guanaco skins, and carried lances twenty feet long, knives, slings, bolas, and lassos, and, by their dexterity in the management of their horses, showed themselves to be accomplished riders. She thought she might even try a bola, although skill with that weapon took as much practice as the sling.Ĭorabb heard the first of those bolas whip outward, the sound followed by a whooshing roar of fire. I must be getting old, Brun thought, I lost the bola throw, but not Broud.īut even as he did so, his fellow guard, already crowding too close behind him, caught the second bola around his legs and slammed into him.
Only long years of firm self-control kept Brun from letting his disappointment show when the bola wrapped around the stump and held. He had been ready to try his bola, though the chance of killing the boy with one of the large stones was more than a possibility. Training with spear or club was little more than developing powerful muscles, but learning to use a sling or a bola took years of practice and concentration.Įxuberant energies of young men were drained off with supervised wrestling bouts, or running-and-spear-thrusting competitions, or sling and bola meets that also served to increase hunting skills. It, and the bola, were the most difficult weapons for the men of the clan to master.
He set his heavy wooden spear down and leaned the shaft against his shoulder with the sharpened, fire-hardened point up, and adjusted the bola he wore around his neck along with his amulet so the three stone balls were more evenly balanced. Hunting with the bola is constantly represented in the paintings both of the Memphite and Theban periods.Įxcept for a discussion at the far end between Dorv, Grod, and Crag about the relative merits of spear versus club, most of the men were practicing with slings and bolas. The objects reported by von Koenigswald, if used in the same manner as South American bolas, imply that their makers were adept not only at stone-working but leatherworking as well.
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