Bolas

{{Short description|Type of weighted throwing weapon used in South America}} {{otheruses|Bolas (disambiguation)}} {{distinguish|Bolus (disambiguation){{!}}Bolus}} {{Refimprove|date=November 2014}} {{Infobox weapon | name = Bolas | image = Bola (PSF).jpg | caption = A hunter using bolas while mounted on a horse. | origin = The Americas | type = Throwing weapon  | is_ranged = | is_bladed = | is_explosive = | is_artillery = | is_vehicle = | is_missile = | is_UK =  | service = | used_by = | wars =  | designer = | design_date = | manufacturer = | unit_cost = | production_date = | number = | variants =  | spec_label = | weight = | length = | part_length = | width = | height = | d = | crew = | passengers =  | cartridge = | cartridge_weight = | caliber = | barrels = | action = | rate = | velocity = | range = | max_range = | feed = | sights =  | breech = | recoil = | carriage = | elevation = | traverse =  | blade_type = | hilt_type = | sheath_type = | head_type = | haft_type =  | filling = | filling_weight = | detonation = | yield =  | armour = | primary_armament = | secondary_armament = | engine = | engine_power = | pw_ratio = | transmission = | payload_capacity = | suspension = | clearance = | fuel_capacity = | vehicle_range = | speed = | guidance = | steering =  | wingspan = | propellant = | ceiling = | altitude = | depth = | boost = | accuracy = | launch_platform = | transport = }}

'''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.<ref name=Bengoa>{{cite book |last=Bengoa |first=José |author-link=José Bengoa |title=Historia del pueblo mapuche: Siglos XIX y XX |year=2000 |edition=Seventh |publisher=LOM Ediciones |isbn=956-282-232-X|pages=243–246}}</ref> Mapuche warriors used bolas in their confrontations with the Chilean Army during the Occupation of Araucanía (1861–1883).<ref name=Cayuqueo>{{Cite book|title=Historia secreta mapuche 2|author-link=Pedro Cayuqueo|last=Cayuqueo|first=Pedro|publisher=Catalonia|year=2020|isbn=978-956-324-783-1|location=Santiago de Chile|pages=42}}</ref>

== Use == [[File:Toortse Rio de la Plata.png|thumb|right|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 can even inflict injury (e.g., by 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1929346/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1|title=People of a Feather (2011)|author=Tracy Allard|date=8 November 2013|work=IMDb|access-date=21 November 2014}}</ref>

== Design == thumb|right|150px|''Boleadoras''

There is no uniform design; most ''bolas'' have two or three balls, but there are versions of up to eight or nine. Some, but not all, ''bolas'' have balls of equal weight; some 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 ''ñanducera'' (two weights, for rheas) * ''Somai'' (two weights)<ref name=Blair>Blair, Claude and Tarassuk, Leonid, eds. (1982). ''The Complete Encyclopedia of Arms and Weapons''. p. 92. Simon & Schuster. {{ISBN|0-671-42257-X}}.</ref> * ''Achico'' (three weights)<ref name=Blair /> * ''Boleadora'' (three weights) * ''Kiipooyaq'' (Inuit name for ''bolas'' with three or more weights<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/VirtualExhibits/Inuit/english/bola.html|title=Inuit Bola|publisher=Gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca|access-date=21 November 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108154237/http://gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/VirtualExhibits/Inuit/english/bola.html|archive-date=8 November 2014}}</ref><ref>[http://www.westferrisscouting.com/Winter%20Camp%202006%203%20.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080709053105/http://www.westferrisscouting.com/Winter%20Camp%202006%203%20.htm|date=July 9, 2008}}</ref>)

''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. [[File:Le Tour du monde-04-p248.jpg|thumb|Puelche warriors using bolas in the 19th century]] thumb|right|250px|A group of gauchos hunting rheas with bolas in La Pampa, Argentina, 1905.Other unrelated versions include ''qilumitautit'', the ''bolas'' of the Inuit, made of sinew and bone weights and used to capture water birds.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AULEX - Diccionario Quechua - Español; en línea |url=https://aulex.org/qu-es/?busca=boleadora |access-date=2022-11-08 |website=aulex.org}}</ref>

== See also == * Bolas spiders, which swing a sticky web blob at the end of a web line to capture prey * BolaWrap, a less-lethal restraining device intended for law enforcement. Fires a kevlar cord with 2 anchors up to 25 feet. Designed to wrap around a suspects legs or arms, apprehending them from a safe distance<ref>https://www.wrap.com/products/bolawrap150</ref> * Bolo tie, a style of necktie resembling the bolas at the end of a string * Eskimo yo-yo, a skill toy resembling fur-covered bolas or yo-yos * Lasso or lariat, a looped rope used for similar purposes, especially in North America * Meteor hammer and meteor, a Chinese melee weapon and a Chinese skill toy, both consisting of two weights connected by a rope or chain * ''Poi'', a Māori skill toy consisting of a ball attached to a tasseled cord * Astrorope, a prototype of Crew Self Rescue (CSR) device for extravehicular activity (EVA) in space flight – see Astronaut propulsion unit

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == {{Wiktionary}} {{commonscat|Bolas}} *

Category:Ancient weapons Category:Argentine folklore Category:Throwing weapons Category:Chain and rope throwing weapons Category:Chilean folklore Category:Culture in Rio Grande do Sul Category:Indigenous culture of the Southern Cone Category:Indigenous weapons of the Americas Category:Lithics Category:Uruguayan folklore Category:Hunting equipment Category:Gaucho culture