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Bolas or bolases (singular bola; from
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''bola'', "ball", also known as a ''boleadora'' or ''boleadeira'') is a type of throwing weapon made of weights on the ends of interconnected cords, used to capture animals by entangling their legs. Bolas were most famously used by the gauchos, but have been found in excavations of Pre-Columbian settlements, especially in Patagonia, where indigenous peoples (particularly the Tehuelche) used them to catch 200-pound guanacos and rheas. The
Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who sh ...
and the Inca army used them in battle. Mapuche warriors used bolas in their confrontations with the
Chilean Army The Chilean Army ( es, Ejército de Chile) is the land arm of the Military of Chile. This 80,000-person army (9,200 of which are conscripts) is organized into six divisions, a special operations brigade and an air brigade. In recent years, and a ...
during the Occupation of Araucanía (1861–1883).


Use

''Gauchos'' used ''boleadoras'' to capture running
cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...
or game. Depending on the exact design, the thrower grasps the ''boleadora'' by one of the weights or by the nexus of the cords. The thrower gives the balls momentum by swinging them and then releases the ''boleadora''. The weapon is usually used to entangle the animal's legs, but when thrown with enough force might even inflict damage (e.g. breaking a bone). Traditionally, Inuit have used bolas to hunt birds, fouling the birds in air with the lines of the bola. ''People of a Feather'' showed Belcher Island Inuit using bolas to hunt eider ducks on the wing.


Design

There is no uniform design; most ''bolas'' have two or three balls, but there are versions of up to eight or nine. Some ''bolas'' have balls of equal weight, others vary the knot and cord. ''Gauchos'' use ''bolas'' made of
braid A braid (also referred to as a plait) is a complex structure or pattern formed by interlacing two or more strands of flexible material such as textile yarns, wire, or hair. The simplest and most common version is a flat, solid, three-strande ...
ed leather cords with wooden balls or small leather sacks full of stones at the ends of the cords. ''Bolas'' can be named depending on the number of weights used: * ''Perdida'' (one weight) * ''Avestrucera'' or ''ñanducera'' (two weights, for rheas) * ''Somai'' (two weights)Blair, Claude and Tarassuk, Leonid, eds. (1982). ''The Complete Encyclopedia of Arms and Weapons''. p. 92.
Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...
. .
* ''Achico'' (three weights) * ''Boleadora'' (three weights) * ''Kiipooyaq'' ( Inuit name for ''bolas'' with three or more weights) ''Bolas'' of three weights are usually designed with two shorter cords with heavier weights, and one longer cord with a light weight. The heavier weights fly at the front parallel to each other, hit either side of the legs, and the lighter weight goes around, wrapping up the legs. Other unrelated versions include ''qilumitautit'', the ''bolas'' of the Inuit, made of
sinew A tendon or sinew is a tough, high-tensile-strength band of dense fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone. It is able to transmit the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system without sacrificing its ability ...
and bone weights and used to capture water birds.


See also

*
Arctic yo-yo An Eskimo yo-yo or Alaska yo-yo ( esu, yuuyuuk; ik, igruuraak) is a traditional two-balled skill toy played and performed by the Eskimo-speaking Alaska Natives, such as Inupiat, Siberian Yupik, and Yup'ik. It resembles fur-covered bolas and yo- ...
*
Bolas spider A bolas spider is a member of the orb-weaver spider (family Araneidae) that, instead of spinning a typical orb web, hunts by using one or more sticky "capture blobs" on the end of a silk line, known as a " bolas". By swinging the bolas at flying ...
s, which swing a sticky web blob at the end of a web line to capture prey *
Bolo tie A bolo tie (sometimes bola tie or shoestring necktie) is a type of necktie consisting of a piece of cord or braided leather with decorative metal tips (called aiguillettes) and secured with an ornamental clasp or slide. Popularity In the United ...
, a style of necktie resembling the bolas in that it has weights at the end of a string * Lasso or lariat, a looped rope used for similar purposes, especially in North America * Meteor hammer and meteor (juggling) * ''Poi'' * Astrorope, a prototype of Crew Self Rescue (CSR) device for Extravehicular activity (EVA) in space flight – see
Astronaut propulsion unit An astronaut propulsion unit (or astronaut maneuvering unit) is used to move an astronaut relative to the spaceship during a spacewalk. The first astronaut propulsion unit was the Hand-Held Maneuvering Unit (HHMU) used on Gemini 4. Models Hand ...


References


External links

{{commonscat, Bolas
Boleadoras
Ancient weapons Argentine folklore Throwing weapons Chain and rope throwing weapons Chilean folklore Culture in Rio Grande do Sul Indigenous culture of the Southern Cone Indigenous weapons of the Americas Lithics Uruguayan folklore Hunting equipment Gaucho culture Primitive weapons