Ancient projectiles (was: Muzzle Velocity (was: High resolution sleep (Linux))

[Cameron Laird]

In article <RT20i.9169$j63.3876 at newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net>,
Dennis Lee Bieber  <wlfraed at ix.netcom.com> wrote:
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>> Did you know that the first military smokeless powder
>> round was for the French Lebel? - It threw a bronze 
>> ball, and could punch through a single brick wall.
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>	Well, extreme high speed wouldn't help for that -- just get a
>surface splatter. Heavy and slower... (or some sort of solid core --
>depleted uranium with a teflon coating)
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Hmmm; now you've got me curious.  What *were* the first
composite projectiles?  Conceivably archers, catapultists,
and slings would all have the potential to find advantage
in use of coated dense projectiles; is there any evidence
of such?  There certainly was "mass production" of cheap
projectiles (clay pellets, for example).  How were stones
chosen for large catapults?  Was there a body of craft
knowledge for balancing density and total mass in
selection of stones?