Bows and arrows

I was thinking about bows and arrows and as one does I wondered about the first person whom devised this wicked contraption that was refined over the centuries,

Somewhere in our ancient past a genius lurks. Name unknown but whomever it was that person who changed history.

**LINK**

* Danny M *

Most ideas would likely turn out to be an evolution of little facts finally put together and then refined as opposed to a sudden total brainwave. The argument that bows were invented independantly everywhere but australia needn't hold water since there was a lot more interaction between nations than many imagine. Australia lely was a seocial case because with a hunting boomerang they had an adequate weapon and no neigbours trying to invade.

I was fascinated by the suggestion that because china came up with porcelain as a light material to store items they didnt need to discover glass and thereore lost out on the development of lenses and magnifiers/spectacles to keep older knowleadgeable inventors able to work.

I used to be into archery and I'm sure you're aware of the techno leaps in the modern stuff but it doesn't take too much imagination for a silly scenario where some wag ties Tarzan's next liana to the bottom of the tree as a prank only to find Tarzan comically flying backwards when the tree springs back - thus inventing not only the bow but also Wiley E Coyote and Road Runner cartoons...

pgk

I can't tell you his or her name but the Short Oxford Dictionary of Technology says that "the first unequivocal representation of [the bow] dating from later Palaeolithic times, is from North Africa."

It is likely the first weapon was the club followed by a cutting weapon such as an axe or knife, then the spear, then the bow for greater range and accuracy. Australia is somewhat a special case as they seemed to not get past the spear phase but went on to develop the more sophisticated boomerang.

The Australian aborioginals also invented a spear trower called a woomera which enabled them to throw greater diatances. Some had a piece of sharp quartz rock in the handle for cutting and sharpening. The woomera was also used for deflecting enemy spears in battle.and as a fire making saw and as a receptacle for mixing ochre for ceremonies.

Who invented the bow and arrow ? Probably someone who got sick of chucking rocks at the enemy 😂

Howi they had boomerangs that came back and ones that didn’t!

The Woomera was the original multi tool !

I think the English long bow was the weapon that many feared the most until firearms were introduced .

Nah, I think the first weapon was the mother-in-law

;O)

Weelll, it most certainly wasn't’ Norman the Conquerer because:

Norman the Conquerer

said to his captain

I mean to affix

England to Normandy,

so go out and borrow

some bows and some arrows,

we’re starting tomorrow.

.......

I expect the blow-pipe may have come somewhere within the development of the items?

Lol. Thanks for the amusing answers people.

My point is that one day, thousands of years ago, somebody had the creative thought to devise and make the very first bow and arrow.

Whomever and wherever that was, I take my hat off to that person as they changed the history of the world for thousands of years until the Chinese invention of gunpowder influenced modern weaponry.

It was some company call "Outrageous Fortune" I think....

I think perchance, you are dreaming.

Aye, there's the rub.

The woomera wasn't the only example a throwing-lever increasing the velocity and range of projectiles - the Mexican atl-atl was another, used (eg. by Aztecs) in parallel with the bow. I'd guess the idea of the bow and arrow really was invented independently in many environments. The bow's first manifestation might well have been as a rotary diver for drilling holes or making fire - any user with an experimental turn of mind might've come across the idea of launching a stick.

Ah, I get what you're saying. They then needed to reduce the rubbing of the arrow on the bow when launched. Could be.

Edited By Bandersnatch on 26/08/2020 18:45:05

For answers to this and many other questions I recommend

The Evolution Man .by Roy Lewis

Not a thick book

Deals with life of a bunch( troop) of proto man.

From fire ,cooking, fire hardened spear, bow and arrow , burial .

Though fiction it is well researched

Edited By jason udall on 26/08/2020 20:06:39

If you'd made a tight bow to give you a good drill-drive, you'd only need to fumble the fitting of the stick to be surprised at how far it went. And I believe there was evidence humans were already familiar with aerodynamic projectile weapons as far back as Heidelberg humans - before the Neanderthals - who seems to have made tapered, fire-hardened javelins.

Edited By Mick B1 on 26/08/2020 20:13:10

The MIL is also a repeater.