Archery History And Bows

Archery bows have come a long way from caveman days to the modern longbows, recurve and compound bows that we have today. The bow and arrow was a major breakthrough in hunting and weaponry of its time.

Anthropologists believe the first arrows were most likely made entirely of wood. Later, with the advent of stone tools, stone or flint points were developed and hafted to the shafts of wood with sinew. After trial and error, it is believed that early man discovered that a spin to the wooden stick caused a more true flight, thus increasing accuracy, so adding feathers. The modern arrow was born.

Archaeologists have discovered arrowheads in Africa dating nearly 60,000 years in the past, perhaps the first achery history revealed. Actual pieces of a wooden bow were dug up in Germany and the date was guessed at around 8,000 B.C. Elm wood archery bows were also discovered in Denmark, and were dated around 6,000 B.C.;

These early bows were made of springy wood, attached at the ends with sinew, or ligament from animal tissue. The string was usually rolled or braided to form a good, strong bowstring. The first archery bows were very simple, made from elm and other woods and had little curve in their structure. They were evidently effective, however, as the civilization that used them prospered for a time.

Longbows were the preferred weapon of choice among those fighting from Native Americans to Arabia. It is rather strange that countries so far out of touch with each other could have come up with the same design. Longbows are traditionally used in battle, but now are enjoyed for target practice, and for the purist, bow hunting.

The recurve bow is a wonderful design probably invented by the early Greeks. It had a widespread use in battle and hunting all across Asia and Egypt. This bow is comprised of composite materials, mostly wood, and has even more force than the longbow.

The compound bow is the most advanced design of any archery bows about. This bow depends on a wheel or cam system that lets of the weight at full draw.

They modern compound bows extremely fast bows, some attaining 360 feet per second. They are very popular with bow hunters, and most can be adjusted for draw length and draw weight.

Starting archery whether for bow hunting or target shooting, can be a fun and rewarding experience. You can shoot traditional bows like the ones designed hundreds of years ago, or the latest high tech archery bows of today.