History of archery

The bow and arrow are known to have been invented by the end of the Upper Paleolithic, and for at least 10,000 years archery was an important military and hunting skill, and features prominently in the mythologies of many cultures.

Archers, whether on foot, in chariots and on horseback were a major part of most militaries until about 1500 when they began to be replaced by firearms, first in Europe, and then progressively elsewhere.

Archery continues to be a popular sport; most commonly in the form of target archery, but in some places also for hunting.

The bow seems to have been invented near the transition from the Upper Paleolithic to the Mesolithic, roughly 10,000 years ago. Spears or darts are much older; it has been suggested that some early points from Africa might have been arrowheads and that use of bows and arrows may date back as far as 71,000 years before present.

The oldest indication for archery in Europe comes from Stellmoor in the Ahrensburg valley north of Hamburg, Germany. They were associated with artifacts of the late Paleolithic (11,000-9,000 BP). The arrows were made of pine and consisted of a mainshaft and a 15-20 centimetre (6-8 inches) long foreshaft with a flint point. They had shallow grooves on the base, indicating that they were shot from a bow.

The oldest definite bows known so far come from the Holmegård swamp in Denmark. In the 1940s, two bows were found there, dated to about 8,000 BP. The Holmegaard bows are made of elm and have flat arms and a D-shaped midsection. The center section 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.

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