Weapons for warfare ,hunting, self defense as well as criminal activity will be and have been part of every civilization and culture in the world..
In prehistoric times proof of the bow and arrows were discovered, stone-tipped arrows with bows, and slings (projectile weapons)
The bow and arrow replaced the traditional rock knives or spears as it is easier to handle, accurate, and do not require a lot of raw material. Hunters could hunt more effectively, as they could target more definitely
Various specimens of earlier bows and arrows have been found all over the world.
from iron tipped, to bronze tipped arrows to various stone and quarz tipped arrows.
The oldest in Europe date back 6,000 BCE and found in Helmegard, Denmark.
With horse riding becoming part of warfare, composite bows were created around about 2500 BCE .
The Chinese Mythology describes the invention of the bow and arrows as follows:
"Huangdi, a hunter went out hunting, armed with only a stone knife. Suddenly a tiger sprang out of the undergrowth. Huangdi climbed quickly up a mulberry tree to escape. The tiger, a patient creature, sat down at the bottom of the tree to see what would happen next. Huangdi saw that the mulberry wood was supple, and so using his knife, cut off a branch from the tree, and made a bow. He then saw a vine growing on the tree, and he made a string. He then saw a straight bamboo and cut a piece to make an arrow. With a bow and arrow he could shoot the tiger in the eye, and the tiger ran away...He could then escape
In the early Middle Ages the composite bow and arrows were the favored weapons of Barbarian tribes.
The Franks developed the iron tipped arrow.
The English longbow used during the late medieval period, and could shoot 5 times faster than the French crossbows.
English Longbow.
The LOngbow was made of a single piece of wood, with a fairly sophisticated design The Bow back ( the part facing back from the Archer) was made of flexible sapwood, allowing the bow to bend sharply without breaking. The bow has to be semi elastic with a bowstring joining at the end of the two limbs. An arrow is a projectile, with a pointed tip a long shaft with stabilizing fins (or fletching)( toward the back, and the arrow has a notch at the back to attach to the bowstring. The first appearance of the Bow and arrow was during the transition from the upper Paleolithic to the Mesolithic .
The earliest remains of the bow and arrow were found in Europe dating 17,00 to 18,000 years ago in Mannheim Vogelstein Germany) In Switzerland flint arrowhead fragments were found in the remains of a bear, dating the use of bows and arrows to 13,500 years ago.
In Kenya Obsidian blades were found embedded in a skull, suggesting the use of bow and arrows to be 10,000 years ago. on the South Coast of Africa, remains of projectile weapons were found, estimated to be 7,000 years old.
The oldest and extant bows and arrows were found and called the Elm Holmegard, in Denmark and dated 8,000 years. In Africa, the traditional inhabitants, the San of Khoi San, of the dessert still use bows and arrows for hunting. They are nomadic hunter gatherers, and carrying the bow and arrow over the shoulder is within easy reach when needed.
Elsewhere as late as 2009 in Kenya, bows and arrows were used in tribal wars.
Archery has become a sophisticated popular sport all over the world and requires skill and precision.
The bows are made by applying scientific principles, and in-depth training for competitors are advised.
A wide selection of designs and applications makes it an expensive yet satisfying sport, and who knows, may be used some day for personal defense, as an archer told me recently.