How The Long Bow Became The Deadliest Weapon Of Its Age

Evidence of humans' use of the bow can be found all over the world, from cave art in Algeria that shows a man shooting a slightly curved bow to the mummified body of Ötzi the iceman - a 4,000 year old murder victim discovered in the Alps with an arrow embedded in his shoulder and a collection of his personal possessions including an unfinished long bow along with a quiver containing 14 arrows.
But it's here in Britain, where the oldest complete bow ever was discovered, at a place called Star Carr.
Join Ray Mears as he goes on a personal journey to uncover the origins of the bow, from its early use in hunting to it's development as the first true weapon of mass destruction.
Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free exclusive podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Lucy Worsely, Mary Beard and more. Watch, listen and read history wherever you are, whenever you want it. Available on all devices: Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, Roku, Xbox, Chromecast, and iOs & Android.
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#historyhit #raymears #bowandarrow #ancienthistory

[@pheart2381]

Someone explain to my cat why his supper will be 1 hour 6 minutes late.....

[@thomasbell7033]

Get over it, Kitty. There are some things the world simply must stop for.

[@Yungbeck]

Hahaha

[@brigidsingleton1596]

Feed your feline beside your chair It will purr and your kindness will always be there Feed it late and unkindly you'll not negate The feeling you know to it you can relate To a bow and an arrow... Practicing Oooh you let it go too late... No archers cider for you... Longbow, composite, crossbow, oh-oh?!

[@user-ib3zn4zb5i]

😂😂

[@jmcw9632]

Meow, meow meow, meow meow meow meow, meow

[@MrMh722]

Ray: "I'm a bit rusty, it's been years"... straight into the heart on the first shot! 😳

[@harrrybee4715]

splits the first arrow like robin hood 🤣🤣🤣

[@a.azazagoth5413]

He’s a brilliant archer no doubt!

[@jamieglover4853]

Form is temporary, class is permanent.

[@anonymous2513456]

you just know he had a cheeky practise before he turned up that day

[@willyum3920]

hahaha I scrolled down to the comments to say exactly this at exactly that point in the video and you beat me to it. Ray Mears, what else can we say.

[@euruski]

Who knew we needed a History Hit & Tod's Workshop crossover with Ray Mears!? Brilliant video.

[@jamesjross]

where hyas ray been? why does bbc/itv no longer commission his programs?

[@CoffeeFiend1]

@@jamesjross He's straight, white, he's also male amongst other 'absolute bastard traits'.

[@HistoricalWeapons]

Such an Anglo centric video. There is no complete history of archery

[@markhuckercelticcrossbows7887]

dont rely on TOD! ive messaged him 3 times, about the uk govs proposal to ban ALL styles of broadhead arrow, ive not had one reply, on helping spread the word about the petition or posting my links! Nothing from sprave, nor uk archy olympic team. if your the little guy, your on your own, they only care about there own business empire!

[@kristiangustafson4130]

@@HistoricalWeapons I largely agree. Mears though is pretty unapologetically British. And the tone of the video does not pretend to be a global history--its Mears' normal focus on British things.

[@1916JAD]

Ray is a national treasure. He is criminally underused by mainstream tv.

[@samuelgarrod8327]

I if I was him I'd be semi retired tbh.

[@vattmann1387]

He's been screwed over / embarrassed (not by his fault) by the media a fair few times :( eg. Graham Norton show where he was asked to make a fire , but the entire area had been sprayed with anti inflammatory substance for safety. Or the time the tabloids called him a bloodhound in the hunt for Roul Moat aka Moaty in the North East :(

[@bennaz123]

It doesn’t get better than Ray Mears, who else loved his docs throughout their childhood?

[@harry6583]

i'd love to meet him one day!

[@requiscatinpace7392]

For me it’s a Man Crush 😂!!

[@David-th2ug]

Who would you have to dinner? Who else?

[@nickdavison9771]

Ray is a legend, very knowledgeable guy and so interesting to watch.

[@jackbrown3689]

hes certainly looking good on it, hasnt changed in 30 years

[@saltaiaw]

I grew up as a young lad watching Ray, I even made my own bow and arrow after watching him make one. I used slate that I nicked from the garden for arrow heads. It's great to see he hasn't changed one bit and still has a love for what he does. Please more of Ray!

[@deejannemeiurffnicht1791]

He just got fatter is all

[@CMillz884]

I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am that Ray still gets recognition. His knowledge and more than that, the way he explains what he knows is unmatched. I have grew up watching Ray and he makes me proud to be British. Also he would have been a deadly archer

[@exploatores]

Listning to him is more like listning to a friend. tellling a story. then listning to someone who thinks they have to make a show to get pepoles attention.

[@deejannemeiurffnicht1791]

It's almost like he demonstrates what we might now call experimental archeology. That is, he explores the past, and our evolution by experimenting hands-on with their technologies from a first-hand basis. So it gives him a bit more authority than having read a book on, say, Longbow archers, or seaisde hunter gatherers, as he has hands-on knowledge of how to do these things himself. This also makes it easy for him to talk with the various experts, as his skills crossover and transfer across various fields so well.

[@ineedabetterusername7424]

1:48 WHAT?!! Joe Gibbs, Ray Mears, and Todd fom Todd's Workshop all in the same archery jam session, just chillin together like legends? THIS IS THE GREATEST CROSSOVER IN THE HISTORY OF FILM!!!

[@Flipendo64]

I could watch Ray Mears documentaries all day

[@mathewmullen288]

I would put Ray Mears on par with Sir David Attenborough.Such an inspiration. And Joe and Tod what more can I say awesome.

[@aaaa-eg4ck]

When Attenborough is gone, Mears should be the one to pick up the flag

[@jamesbatten8659]

I helped in the construction of the museum on the Mary Rose and I would sometimes be onsite until two in the morning , I would just sit with the ship when the dock was empty . Sat with her by myself I would feel this great sense of sorrow , the fact that she’s not just a ship but also a grave . The souls of those sailors is in every inch of that wood . Strange the feelings you can have when you have a personal moment with such a piece of history .

[@LoreTunderin]

Thank you for sharing this. It's easy to unintentionally overlook the human element of historic sites and events, getting swept up in the numbers and the technology. Too few experience those moments of quiet, uninterrupted reflection, particularly in proximity to such historically significant sites and artifacts. Tours and exhibits are awesome, of course, but nothing compares to the overwhelming power and emotion that can only be experienced when you're alone with your thoughts and surrounded by history.

[@Wardads1]

I have a tiki dating back to the Maori wars .Its a family heirloom carved from a bone belonging to a British trooper.My missus won't touch it ,reckons its evil but my eldest son and I can feel the direct connection to both our ancestor and his former enemy whose mana he respected to the point of possession.

[@captainflint89]

this man and his craft is a big part of why i make arrowheads and bows/arrows today , as a boy ray inspired the hunter and craftsman in me and for this i am forever in debt to him

[@jameshazen2907]

I had some different influences but what a great hobby it is!

[@theguywitheyebrows]

in the lung and in the heart, Ray's still got it!! glad to see new content with his smiling voice in it

[@Haasenpad]

Ray Mears remains the best presenter on any subject. What a legend!

[@MrEolicus]

Fascinating. And a real pleasure to meet Ray Mears once again. Not to mention Barry, Nicky, Joe, Tod, Mark, Chris, Jo and Alex who lent their expertise in the most charming fashion. Cheers.

[@marcusfridh8489]

Only missing Mike Loads

[@johnclark1925]

When you see Ray holding a bow, touching a yew tree, saying how the forest emends him of when he was a boy… one sees that boy… still doing boyhood things… in a wood, with bow, making arrows, fletching and shooting. ❤️Stay true to what you are.

[@dasiksupahuman]

This is my first Ray Mears documentary I have seen and literally as soon as I saw Joe and Tod. I paused made a cup of English breakfast tea and sat back down because I am not getting up until this video is done.

[@a.azazagoth5413]

You’re lucky to have so many Ray Mears documentaries to watch!

[@poolie-mag8282]

Hope you have plenty of time and plenty of tea. Ray's got plenty of documentaries

[@Kefuddle]

Gotta love Ray. He presents so effortlessly with a gravitas of knowledge and experience few can match.

[@jamesjross]

can anyone answer why UK TV stopped commissioning Ray Mears? I cannot be the only person that watches everything he makes.

[@vattmann1387]

He's been screwed over / embarrassed (not by his fault) by the media a fair few times :( eg. Graham Norton show where he was asked to make a fire , but the entire area had been sprayed with anti inflammatory substance for safety. Or the time the tabloids called him a bloodhound in the hunt for Roul Moat aka Moaty in the North East :( As far as I can tell unfortunately He's said in past interviews he'd love to work for the BBC on nature documentaries etc.

[@Squarepeg57]

Ray Mears is a great presenter. Knowledgeable and with a real passion for the subject. He’s a great guy in person too!

[@ironmikekendall2506]

Awesome to see Joe and Todd with the legendary Ray Mears. Ray Mears is a national treasure. He's with the likes of Steve Irwin and Mr.Rogers 🙂

[@MithridatesEupator412]

Great seeing more Ray Mears again, I just finished the episode on the invasion of Britain by the Romans which he hosted.

[@MrRockheaddevon]

I would love it if you did a journey around the world comparing different designs and methods of archery. From tribal double bow, syrian horse bows to japanese yumi

[@pheart2381]

Good idea!

[@lemon_j22]

Love it. Ray Mears rocks!

[@sjohnson4882]

This should be renamed "The Partial History of Archery in England With Ray Mears."

[@marcusfridh8489]

Mike Loads did an 1 hour 12 minutes long documentary of the history of archery years ago, still in youtube to this day, i have it on my main miscellanious playlist

[@sjohnson4882]

@@marcusfridh8489 Yes, I have seen and enjoyed it.

[@sjohnson4882]

@@marcusfridh8489 It is possible that the title was changed from "The History of Archery," to "The Evolution of Medieval Archery." This is a much better title.

[@georgeeckenroth5315]

Ray Mears is just the best. I'm enthralled by his knowledge, skills and passion.

[@dreamjackson5483]

I really like how Ray is always putting himself in the shoes of the people in the past. And vice versa. I think it's a good exercise, and enjoy it alot!

[@AntFilledBeach]

This has been an incredible documentary. The voice and nature of Ray Mears is absolutely perfect to describe the delicate and yet powerfull impact of archery in history. Tod and Joe was just icing on the cake to see. Thanks very much for making this come together and sharing with the world.

[@TheEskimosPantry]

Oh, Amazing! Thanks so much for this content. Ray is a national treasure, can't wait to see more with him.

[@TheLegendMaster]

This is brilliant, I've loved Ray Mears since I was a teenager and I've been subscribed to Tod's Workshop for years too. To see them together is almost as good for me as when Ray was on Talking Pints with Nigel Farage!

[@MysticChronicles712]

How incredible! Your content is much appreciated. I can't wait for more Ray; he's a national treasure.

[@willyum3920]

excellent programme thank you. Ray Mears in his element, doing his thing brilliantly as always. A joy.

[@BH-rx3ue]

Love a bit of Ray Mears. Ahh, lovely nostalgia. Nice to see Tod and Joe in here as well

[@marks6928]

Absolutely loved this. Ray is as brilliant as ever, and he’s the perfect person for this topic. Fantastic.

[@paulcheney3636]

Ray you really are a national treasure! A title thrown about too much currently but one Ray Mears richly deserves

[@SpindlyScoudrel]

Always good to listen to Ray

[@EmptyGlass99]

Ray Mears is always a joy to watch. He is so passionate about bushcraft, it's infectious. I am old enough to remember the Mary Rose being lifted - the preservation on those bows is astonishing.

[@BionicRusty]

As a novice archer, I love this. Compelling viewing 👏👏👏

[@Lutz101]

Enjoyed this. Ray Mears has also written a bunch of superb books and has his own website.

[@WimJilf]

Absolutely superb. Thank you Ray and team.

[@jasonbennett60]

Great documentary! Ray is excellent as host and it’s always great to see Tod and Joe.

[@Remigrator]

I will watch this episode with the highest level of scrutiny.

[@Pedro8k]

Best video i have seen on the subject good to see ray again i have shot with a longbow for well over 30 years and still enjoy it there is a lot of skill in making bows and arrows and there use

[@danpatterson7108]

"I haven't done this for ages"... Double tap straight to the heart...

[@paulsimeone2708]

Fantastic, Ray is the best , the knowledge is priceless

[@b.elzebub9252]

13:18 It's so incredibly valuable for our understanding of pre-history to have someone like Ray with all his knowledge, experience and time spend with peoples who still life in the traditional ways. It's amazing how he can look at a shard of petrified wood and go 'Oh, it's probably [..]. I've seen something similar with the [..]people of [..]' Truly an amazing man!

[@Veronika7777]

I am just 26 mins into the video and I must say, this was extraordinarily well done. Well presented, narrated, edited, shot, etc... Just a bang-on solid job. 💜

[@pensnut08]

A fantastic journey into history!!

[@sirbobulous]

It's Tod! Great to see the collaboration.

[@marcusfridh8489]

I like to think that Ray did follow the arrow vs armor series

[@Calum_S]

It's a shame Robert Hardy is no longer with us. He was very knowledgeable on this subject.

[@johnnyretro1975]

RAY YOU ARE AN AMAZING MAN

[@uncletoad1779]

Nice to see Ray in action again!

[@brodiedavisalmostprimitive1262]

So good to see Ray!

[@rundmk00]

We love you Ray! I still regularly watch your old shows, truly top TV 🙏

[@johnrochford4031]

I miss Ray. Good to see him back in stuff.

[@stevemull2002]

great vid, thanks, i enjoyed that

[@resh..]

Absolutely phenomenal documentary.

[@paul_k_7351]

Love the video. Ray Mears is the best ❤️

[@stephentodd6936]

F#@king amazing, cheers Ray, you bring a tear of joy to my eyes. X

[@TXGRunner]

This is the sort of unapologetically British documentary I grew up watching in the US, "...our island home..." & "...Britain was known for...", not any sort of false or showy patriotism, just a subtle and casual reference to your sense of nationhood/community and shared history of which you can be justly proud. I honestly shocked somebody didn't edit it out to placate the mob.

[@Templar7832]

This is superb love it! My Dad and I both have longbows made by the legend Steve Ralphs. I just love archery it's so cool. More vids on archery please!

[@maniachill3069]

Ray!. Great to see you Brother! Hello from Maine, USA

[@draganjagodic4056]

Great docu, great research.

[@jasoncallow860]

Mary Rose is basically a Pompeii of the sea. Awesome documentary; always love experimental archaeology.

[@BlandMarkComedy]

Ray and Tod? Fantastic!

[@billjenkins5693]

Wonderful show!

[@jacksawild]

Ray Mears is just incredibly watchable

[@JohnAdams-kc8wx]

What a legend Ray Mears is !

[@draganjagodic4056]

Sincere respect for salvaging and restoration of the ship.

[@michaeldmckenzie]

It sure doesn’t look complete to me. But , it’s intriguing and I’m glad you’ve told us this story.

[@Alan-in-Bama]

Excellent episode ! - From a fellow archer across the pond.

[@DraigBlackCat]

So 'The Complete History Of The Bow' ignores fire-hardening of arrows, starts at the ice-age, jumps straight from ice age to anglo-norman period, ignoring development of armouring the ends of the bow with horn caps, the introduction of armouring the nock. It mentions nothing about if the ancient bows were made from sap wood, heart wood or if/when the mix of both was used in woods before Yew (it also ignores the limitations of UK Yew compared with continental Yew). It erroneously gives the impression that all british bowmen used Yew bows. It totally ignores the bow string which, of course, is critical to harnessing the power of the bow. It also totally ignores the orient, laminated and recurve bows from the Middle East/Asia and anything that wasnt English (including the bow-staff tax imposed upon ships importing goods to England. Lastly, it implies that the use of Bows ended at the Tudor period. So its title is a total lie - it should say 'A ppartial history of the bow in England'

[@thenoworriesnomad]

Fantastic video...👍👍

[@williammills3632]

Thats the fastest Ive ever hit the like button. EPIC video 🏹

[@vattmann1387]

Good to see Ray back in the media :) He got me into bush craft stuff back as a kid in the 90's. It pisses me off he got screwed over a bunch of times by the media :/

[@Labroidas]

Amazing documentary, it was a pleasure to watch! I also very much enjoyed Tod's Workshop and Ray Mears joining forces, I've been a big fan of both for a long time. Just one correction for Ötzi: he is 5300 years old, not 4000, as mentioned at 4:15.

[@nickdavison9771]

Great to see Ray back on the screen, that lime bark quiver is impressive, I have made one myself but it was nowhere near as neat.

[@TheAmericanDane]

History hit X Tod’s Workshop X Ray Mears! What a treat!!

[@johnslaughter5475]

I loved this video. I used to shoot a 50# Grizzly Bear, a recurve. I wasn't bad. Seeing Mary Rose was a special treat. There is so much history in that ship. The remains found in her were not limited to the bows. Remains of her crew. Remains of barrels with food in them. Mary Rose was a time capsule. Henry VIII was supposedly standing on shore watching as she sank. There is a story that the captain's wife was standing next to Henry. When Mary Rose went down, she fainted and Henry caught her. The story is not verified. I would love for HH to do an entire episode just on Mary Rose. BTW, A young Prince of Wales, Charles, was among those who dove on her in the Solent. (sp?)

[@Ayns.L14A]

we need more Ray............

[@tfjzz]

excellent, thank you!

[@williamrobinson7435]

Ray Mears strikes again! Bullseye. 🌟👍

[@paulprior9875]

Awesome to see Joe, Todd and Ray in one film!

[@sunflowerbadger]

Ray "Hawk Eye" Mears getting giddy at the sight of the Mary Rose bows ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

[@jamieglover4853]

Ray needs to be knighted. Arise, Ser Raymond Mears.

[@utube7930]

Ray backs up his knowledge with ability

[@jonathanowen8389]

Great stuff. Makes me want to take up archery again.

[@oprecourt]

Someone said we started losing our bravery the day we could kill our enemies without looking in their eyes

[@josephcollins6033]

Ray! Thanks!

[@TheCastlesofEngland]

Ray Mears is the GOAT! 🐐

[@Galois32]

You can tell Ray is an incredible bushman as he always looks well fed

[@dqgorman3436]

Nice helix fletching! 😊

[@katherinecollins4685]

Really interesting

[@jonnycarrick7552]

What a find Ray mears on KZbin 🎉

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

It was an informative and wonderful historical coverage work shared by🙏 ( history Hit) channel. Coverage work about long Bow...a primitive weapon utilized from Mesolethic periods to medieval periods ...utilized for England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇬🇧 definition to Conquistador of others countries ( France 🇫🇷) as example

[@andywarrington4738]

superb

[@rwood4790]

Superb

[@hessmedstorparn]

Very nice 👍

[@30035XD]

Todd and Joe! Nice!

[@thomasf.5768]

Brilliant !! 💚🏹

[@TheUncarvedBlock]

More Ray please. I would also like to nominate him for Ambassador of Earth.

[@fourshore502]

it sounds to me like the arrow to the eye story could have been mixed up with harald hårdråde, who was supposedly also killed by an arrow to the eye, or neck just a few days earlier.