In the course of the development of weaponry and technology, the issue of whether a novice would be able to learn to use a new force multiplier quickly and accurately enough to benefit from its use is in question here. In the case of the atlatl and the sling, two force multiplier weapons that have existed for thousands of years, which would a novice be able to more effectively use in a brief amount of time, and what would this tell archaeologists about the behaviors surrounding each weapon? While the results of several volunteers learning how to use both the sling and the atlatl were unexpected, and indicate far more than an outright beginning advantage over throwing their ammunition of choice in their initial adoption and development, the outcome of their introduction to these weapons can be understood in the larger context of how human technology and weaponry developed.