Bolas
The bolas, or boleadoras, are throwing weights of the South American plains: two or three stone or iron balls, often covered in hide, joined by braided cords of leather. The hunter or gaucho swings them overhead and releases them to wrap around the legs of fleeing cattle, horses or rheas, tangling the animal in an instant fall. The weapon was developed by the Indigenous peoples of the Pampas and Patagonia and adopted wholesale by the colonial herders, and chroniclers recorded its use among the Mapuche and Tehuelche; a heavier solid type, the bolas perdidas, was hurled at enemies in war. The ga