Bows

A bow is a weapon that shoots arrows powered by the elasticity of the bow. It is used for hunting, sport (target shooting), and in historical times was a weapon of war. more...

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The technique of using a bow is called archery. Someone who makes bows is known as a bowyer, and a fletcher makes arrows. Together with the atlatl and the sling, the bow was one of the first ranged weapons or hunting tools which used mechanical principles, instead of relying solely on strength and skill of its user.

Many bow designs have been used in different cultures and time periods. Common designs are: solid wood (the English longbow), laminated wood (Japanese and Sami bows), and horn-wood-sinew composite (Middle East, India, Mongols). In modern times, the recurve and compound bows dominate for sport and hunting practices. Newer materials include flexible plastics, fiberglass, and carbon fibers, leading to increases in range and projectile velocity.

Modern-day use of bows for hunting is a matter of controversy in some areas, but common and accepted in others. Modern hunters are often drawn to bow hunting because it generally requires more practice and skill than taking game with a firearm. While modern rifles allow hunters to shoot large game (such as deer or elk) at distances of 100 yards (metres) or more, archers usually take large game within 40 yards (metres) which requires the archer to stalk the game more closely without frightening it away. Bow hunting is also still practiced in traditional cultures worldwide.

History

The bow seems to have been invented in the late Palaeolithic or early Mesolithic. The oldest indication for its use in Europe comes from the Stellmoor in the Ahrensburg valley north of Hamburg, Germany and date from the late Paleolithic Hamburgian culture (9000–8000 BC). The arrows were made of a pine and consisted of a mainshaft and a 15-20 centimetre (6-8 inches) long foreshaft with a flint point.

The usage of bows in warfare is described in the Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata.

The oldest bows known so far come from the Holmegård swamp in Denmark. In the 1940s, two bows were found there. They are made of elm and have flat arms and a D-shaped midsection. The middle part is biconvex. The complete bow is 1.50 m (5 ft) long. Bows of Holmegaard-type were in use until the Bronze Age; the convexity of the midsection has decreased with time.

Mesolithic arrows have been found in England, Germany, Denmark and Sweden. They were often rather long (up to 120 cm ) and made of hazel (Corylus avellana), wayfaring tree (Viburnum lantana) and chokecherry (Cornus alba). Some still have flint arrow-heads preserved; others have blunt wooden ends for hunting birds and small game. The ends show traces of fletching, which was fastened on with birch-tar.

Read more at Wikipedia.org