How and from what wood do bows. The history of weapons in antiquity and today

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

The invention of the bow was revolutionary for mankind. Before him, remote weapons were not a serious argument in war and hunting. Slings, darts, stones - all of them were significantly inferior in effectiveness to melee equipment. The "stick with a rope" began to change this balance - at first barely noticeable, and later, from century to century, more and more strongly.

From Antiquity to the Middle Ages

The first bows were extremely primitive - a fairly straight and flexible stick with a bowstring made from animal tendons. Arrows are straight branches with stone tips. The destructive power of such devices was small - they could only beat a bird and small animals.

But, like any weapon, the bow improved very quickly. The man began to wonder: what kind of wood is better to make a bow? How can it be processed to be more flexible, stronger and more powerful? How to upgrade arrows?

Already to antiquitythe bow became a serious argument for military operations: made of specially dried wood, with the same tension on both "shoulders", it made it possible to effectively hit a target at a distance of 30-40 meters, and this was a lot for that era. The arrows also changed a lot - they acquired plumage, which stabilized their flight, as well as metal tips (copper, and then bronze).

From the Middle Ages to the present day

Despite the undoubted usefulness of the bow, before the beginning of the early Middle Ages, it did not receive decisive importance - the legions of the great Roman Empire did not like it too much, relying mainly on discipline and order. Throwing weapons in the Roman army were used for auxiliary purposes - for example, darts were used to weight enemy shields.

The first major battles won by the handgun was the battle of the Hundred Years War between the French and the British. What wood do the British make onions from? "Of course, from yew!" - they would say from both sides of the English Channel. The British simple bow (or simply "long") was taken not by accuracy or lethal force, but only by mass character - the British were the first in Europe to rely on numerous squads of archers and volley fire.

It should be noted that "archery technologies" in the world developed unevenly - if rather primitive designs were used in Greek policies, then in Ancient Egypt, already two thousand years BC, composite bows were invented - connected fromwooden, metal and horn elements, they, as a rule, were much more accurate and powerful than simple ones, while being one and a half times shorter. The best performance was achieved by the optimal combination of different materials and the creation of multidirectional curves.

The "composite bow" was widely used in the classical Middle Ages - mainly in Asian countries, Byzantium and in the Slavic lands. The main disadvantage of such a weapon was the complexity of its manufacture and, accordingly, the cost.

During the late Middle Ages, the bow was first supplanted by the crossbow (much more powerful and not requiring special skills and physical strength from the shooter), and then the two of them outright lost to firearms. Noisy, misfiring, at first very inaccurate, it pierced any armor, and this plus outweighed all the minuses.

How are the onions today?

The 20th century saw a renaissance of this ancient weapon. First in sports, then in hunting - in our time, the passion for this ancient form of shooting unites millions of people around the world.

What wood are bows made from today? Most often, wooden parts for the manufacture of modern sports and hunting "arrow throwers" are not used - they have been replaced by composite materials. They are stronger, stronger and faster than classic materials.

Exceptions are copies that are created using historical technologies. Gunsmiths-reenactors use only natural materials. What treedo bow and arrows are such masters? Maple, walnut, elm, yew, oak, hazel - many species are suitable for this role.

The results of even the best "historical" specimens are inferior to modern ones in all shooting components, except for one thing - the pleasure of familiarizing with ancient art.

Interesting facts

If you were transported into the distant past and, once in India or Persia, asked what kind of wood the bow is made in your city, you would be very surprised by the answer. The fact is that some specimens were made from a single piece of metal! Such "arrow throwers" required remarkable strength and skill, so they were rarely used.

The unique design of the Japanese bow - yumi. It, unlike all the others, was asymmetrical - the handle and the point of application of the arrow were at a distance of one third of the length of the bow from below. It was not easy to learn how to shoot from yumi, but the results of the samurai showed amazing - arrows from their bows flew up to 350 meters! Until now, asymmetric yumi are made in the Land of the Rising Sun, and shooting from it is not only a sport or a hobby, but an important element in educating a person. What wood do Japanese craftsmen make bows from? The traditional material for classic pieces is bamboo, although wooden planks are also used, tied together with thin twine.