Pre-Columbian Chancay War Sling (Honda) from Peru - AD 1100-1450

Item TB281                    

This Item was Sold on 30 September 2012 for $125


Similar artifacts for sale are often found on the Australian Aboriginal Artifacts web page.

Historical Pricing information for this item and similar artifacts can be found at: Historical Artifact Prices.


This item is a very fine and delicately braided war sling with a split pouch design (Honda) from the Chancay culture in pre-Columbian Peru. It was made out of twisted plant fibers throughout. Most ceremonial slings have a woven loop for the finger at one end and a tassel at the other end to reduce noise during the release. The war sling has more simple terminating ends where the cordage is simply wrapped around one finger and the other end is left frayed. This war sling has frayed ends on both cords and the cords are nearly equal in length. There is some unraveling of the braiding in the split pouch and I have not tried to clean or rewrap any of the fine fibers that have become loose. I will leave that for you to do, but I recommend leaving it in the current condition for display purposes. This war sling is at least 500 years old and possibly older. Because of it's age, I do not recommend using this sling to throw ammo.

This sling was purchased in a New York City auction house in 1965 and it can be legally sold in the USA, but it cannot be exported from the USA. Provenance proving that the date of acquisition was before the 1972 import ban will be provided to the purchaser after payment has been made. Total Stretched Length = 190 cm ; Weight = 10 gm



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