Bolas or bolases (singular bola; from Spanish and Portuguesebola, "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 and the Inca army used them in battle.[1] Mapuche warriors used bolas in their confrontations with the Chilean Army during the Occupation of Araucanía (1861–1883).[2]
Gauchos used boleadoras to capture running cattle 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.[3]
Design
Boleadoras
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 braidedleather 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:
Kiipooyaq (Inuit name for bolas with three or more weights[5][6])
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.
A group of gauchos hunting rheas with bolas in La Pampa, Argentina.
Other unrelated versions include qilumitautit, the bolas of the Inuit, made of sinew and bone weights and used to capture water birds.[7]
bolas, other, uses, disambiguation, confused, with, bolus, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, new. For other uses see Bolas disambiguation Not to be confused with Bolus This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Bolas news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2014 Learn how and when to remove this template message Bolas or bolases singular bola from Spanish and Portuguese 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 and the Inca army used them in battle 1 Mapuche warriors used bolas in their confrontations with the Chilean Army during the Occupation of Araucania 1861 1883 2 BolasA hunter using bolas while mounted on a horse TypeThrowing weaponPlace of originThe Americas Contents 1 Use 2 Design 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksUse Edit River Plate Indians with Bolas Hendrick Ottsen 1603 Gauchos used boleadoras to capture running cattle 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 3 Design Edit Boleadoras 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 braided 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 nanducera two weights for rheas Somai two weights 4 Achico three weights 4 Boleadora three weights Kiipooyaq Inuit name for bolas with three or more weights 5 6 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 A group of gauchos hunting rheas with bolas in La Pampa Argentina Other unrelated versions include qilumitautit the bolas of the Inuit made of sinew and bone weights and used to capture water birds 7 See also EditArctic yo yo Bolas spiders which swing a sticky web blob at the end of a web line to capture prey Bolo tie 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 unitReferences Edit Bengoa Jose 2000 Historia del pueblo mapuche Siglos XIX y XX Seventh ed LOM Ediciones pp 243 246 ISBN 956 282 232 X Cayuqueo Pedro 2020 Historia secreta mapuche 2 Santiago de Chile Catalonia p 42 ISBN 978 956 324 783 1 Tracy Allard 8 November 2013 People of a Feather 2011 IMDb Retrieved 21 November 2014 a b Blair Claude and Tarassuk Leonid eds 1982 The Complete Encyclopedia of Arms and Weapons p 92 Simon amp Schuster ISBN 0 671 42257 X Inuit Bola Gamesmuseum uwaterloo ca Archived from the original on 8 November 2014 Retrieved 21 November 2014 1 Archived July 9 2008 at the Wayback Machine AULEX Diccionario Quechua Espanol en linea aulex org Retrieved 2022 11 08 External links Edit Look up bolas in Wiktionary the free dictionary Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bolas Boleadoras Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bolas amp oldid 1135508026, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
