Twisted Bow

Lore & Background

The oldest known evidence of arrows comes from layers 20–21 in Obi-Rakhmat Grotto, Uzbekistan, some 80,000 years ago. Micro-points have been found, the right size for use as arrow-heads, too small for spear points and too large for blowgun darts. Traces of impact fractures, consistent with their use as projectile points, are identified. They may have been hafted to arrow shafts using locally-available bitumen.

In Sibudu Cave, South Africa, likely arrowheads have been found, dating from approximately 72,000–60,000 years ago. Probable arrowheads from Fa Hien Cave, Sri Lanka have been dated to 48,000 years ago. Small stone points from the Mandrin Cave in Southern France, used some 54,000 years ago, have damage from use that indicates their use as projectile weapons, and some are too small (less than 10mm across as the base) for any practical use other than as arrowheads. They are associated with possibly the first groups of modern humans to leave Africa.

Reader's Guide

A bow consists of a semi-rigid but elastic arc with a high-tensile bowstring joining the ends of the two limbs of the bow. An arrow is a projectile with a pointed tip and a long shaft with stabilizer fins (fletching) towards the back, with a narrow notch (nock) at the very end to contact the bowstring. To load an arrow for shooting (nocking an arrow), the archer places an arrow across the middle of the bow with the bowstring in the arrow's nock. To shoot, the archer holds the bow at its center with one hand and pulls back (draws) the arrow and the bowstring with the other (typically the dominant hand).

This flexes the two limbs of the bow rearwards, which perform the function of a pair of cantilever springs to store elastic energy. While maintaining the draw, the archer typically aims the shot intuitively or by sighting along the arrow. Then the archer releases (looses) the draw, allowing the limbs' stored energy to convert into kinetic energy transmitted via the bowstring to the arrow, propelling it to fly forward with high velocity. The distance a bow can shoot is called its cast.

A container or bag for additional arrows for quick reloading is called a quiver. When not in use, bows are generally kept unstrung, meaning one or both ends of the bowstring are detached from the bow. This removes all residual tension on the bow and can help prevent it from losing strength or elasticity over time. Many bow designs also let it straighten out more completely, reducing the space needed to store the bow. Returning the bowstring to its ready-to-use position is called stringing the bow.

Did You Know?

• The oldest extant bows in one piece are the elm Holmegaard bows from Denmark, which were dated to 9,000 BCE.
• The Stellmoor bow fragments from northern Germany were dated to about 8,000 BCE, but they were destroyed in Hamburg during the Second World War.
• The bow was the national weapon of Persian kings, and images of them carrying it can be seen on Persian coins.
• The British upper class initiated a revival of archery as a sport in the late 18th century, with Sir Ashton Lever forming the Toxophilite Society in London in 1781.