The Origin & Evolution of the Bow and Arrow

#ancienthumans
Here you will get a glimpse into a prehistoric life of our hunter gatherer ancestors and the primitive technology they utilised on a daily basis. Stone Age tools that helped humans reach Australia, Europe and even America as recently as 20,000 years ago.
This one specifically is about the origin and evolution of the bow and arrow. How was the bow and arrow invented and where are its origins? The difficult life of the first hunters and how ingeniuity led them to an entirely different lifestyle.
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I would like to thank the creators and rightful owners of these artworks:
Stepan Gilev: www.artstation.com/artwork/NG...
Wikipedia Commons:
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chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:44 The Origin of The Bow and Arrow
3:38 The Bow and Arrow vs The Atlatl
5:08 The Bow and Arrow in Warfare

[@salt1956]

The bow and arrow was invented in Africa 70,000 years ago. Yet when Captain James Cook stepped ashore on the east coast of Australia in 1770 he discovered that the Australian Aborigines were hunting only with throwing spears. It seems the bow was being used in every inhabited part of the world, except Australia. It would have made kangaroo hunting a lot easier. By the way, a spear thrower is called a 'woomera' in Australia.

[@waynebimmel6784]

Maybe there is no wood to make good bows where there's kangaroos and vice versa. Also, hunting boomerangs preserve the fur without holes, maybe that was a priority?

[@coleparker]

We used the term atlatl which is an Aztec (Nahuatl) here in California and other parts of the USA. It is interesting that both the atlatl and bow and arrow were being used by the Meso americans when the Spanish arrived.

[@Alarix246]

@@waynebimmel6784 🤣 🤣🤣

[@Alarix246]

So if the Atlatl was invented 20000 years ago, it was re-invented in Australia as woomera independently? It seems hard to admit. I rather think this is valid only to the moment when somebody finds a woomera remains as old as 50000 years. In America it could not be found as the inhabitants came later, in Africa and tropical locations it's difficult to find wood which didn't rot.

[@fintonmainz7845]

The bow was not the preferred weapon for hunting and warfare in many cultures where the bow was known. The would wouldn't have been dramatically different if the bow had never been invented.

[@habagun737]

This channel is going to be big if you keep posting and dont get discouraged

[@SabertoothNomad]

Thanks, will keep uploading, more and more consistently :)

[@peterbreis5407]

The spear thrower is called the Woomera in Australia. The remains of Munga Man (>43,000 yrs) showed signs of osteoarthritis from the use of a Woomera. The Woomera had multiple uses, as a shield, a shallow carrier and implement for cutting up game or digging for yams. For people travelling light multi-use tools were important. Modern testing show they can throw a spear, which is much heavier than an arrow, over 260m at 150kph. Aborigines had contact with Moluccans and Torres Strait Islanders who had bows and arrows but they did not take up the supposed superior technology.

[@RodCalidge]

Hilarious. 43k years ago and you can state, unequivocally that he had osteoarthritis and that it definitely came from spear chucking. Hahahhahanah. Not from climbing, wood gathering, thr9w8ng rocks at pheasants, or lifting rocks to build shelters. Nope. Absolutely came from throwing a woomera. I love these channels, they bring out the best in human smugness. My grandmother had osteoarthritis but I don't remember her ever having a spear, maybe granny had a secret.

[@lloydwegener3956]

@@RodCalidge yes Nick lots of crap on these sites and verry little truth , it is getting so I don't use utube much any more

[@gfreeman9843]

Very true.multi tools.easy to imagine a spear used as a ridge pole for a shelter,woomera too as a weapon after spears were thrown and an adze with a blade glued on. They were clever people.❤❤ Up in Cape York area they would have been aware of Buddhism,firearms,opium,glass, alcohol etc etc long before white people invaded. And bows and arrows too.

[@grimble4564]

I just found your channel and honestly I'm shocked that the rest of your videos don't have have the same amount of views as the first two. I'll pray to the gods of the algorithm to bless you again so we can get this channel the views it deserves.

[@SabertoothNomad]

Thanks a lot, hopefully next time I hit big there will be lots of quality content for all the new people to watch. So I'll be working on that :)

[@kahuna5164]

Cool content man, not a lot like this on history KZbin. Keep it up man

[@SabertoothNomad]

Thanks :)

[@b.h.abbott-motley2427]

Bows saw widespread military use in some areas well into the 19th century. Ming-loyalist archers impressed Dutch observers during the conflict over Formosa (Taiwan) in the second half of the 17th century. Comanche archery impressed some U.S. observers. & Chinese soldiers continued training with the bow in some cases even into the early 20th century, though I'm not aware of examples of effective use in China from the second half of the 19th century & on. Etc.

[@SuperHitman55]

Such a fantastic presentation :)

[@SabertoothNomad]

Thanks I try my best :)

[@bravo2_0]

I love this kind of content. Very well done. Subbed

[@SabertoothNomad]

Awesome, thank you!

[@roguemanoutdoors]

Some interesting history that you show here. Keep it up.

[@SabertoothNomad]

Thanks. I appreciate it :)

[@kellyburket6955]

My dad owns the very first compound bow ever made! Not the first type, but the first one made!!! There were three made at the same time, and no one really knows which of the three actually dried first, or which one received the last piece, or strung first, but the other two went to the land fill. His is the only surviving bow of the set. I was one of the first few people to ever shoot a compound bow, and the third person to shoot it!

[@SabertoothNomad]

That's pretty cool, I never used one before. I should try, I wonder how it feels compared to a bow.

[@Geezuznotcomingforu]

@@SabertoothNomad haha. I agree with that last sentence 100%.

[@Pynaegan]

@@SabertoothNomad In comparison, if you're used to shooting "trad" a compound bow feels like "cheating".

[@SabertoothNomad]

@@Pynaegan I can imagine :D

[@kaminakaffir5262]

Supercool I love it nice video very informative 👍🙏🙏

[@SabertoothNomad]

Glad you liked it :)

[@2l84t]

Once the game became smaller and moved into forests the atlatl was at a disadvantage because of branches etc.

[@nugsymalone1247]

Imagine the absolute rush of throwing the final spear that brought down a mammoth type animal. Feeling like an absolute beast

[@seankessel3867]

Like the rest are saying, you're doing good work here, on great topics. I personally would like to see videos twice this length, and more in-depth...but honestly from a branding standpoint, there aren't many channels doing this kind of content in sub-10 minute videos. Maybe it's a smart thing. Either way you go, keep it up!

[@SabertoothNomad]

Smart guy. You will see longer videos at some point :)

[@mulematt6225]

Thanks for the awesome video. Im number 895. Keep up the great work.

[@SabertoothNomad]

Thank you :)

[@WagesOfDestruction]

Aboriginal populations moved into Australia around 50,000 years ago. It is unknown whether they brought the atlatl or spear-thrower with them, invented it in Australia, or imported it through their slight contacts with people overseas. Bows and arrows were invented around 70,000 years ago. Some Aboriginal groups made toy bows and arrows for children to play with. The reason why Aboriginal Australians did not adopt bows and arrows is unclear but they used spears, are speculated.

[@mhdfrb9971]

It's probably the most advanced and revolutionary weapon of it's time when it first created.

[@SabertoothNomad]

Yes I agree, it must have made life so much easier for those that had the knowledge on how to make and use it.

[@aquariandawn4750]

There are so many games I'd have never won without a bow.

[@SabertoothNomad]

Likewise.

[@aquariandawn4750]

@@SabertoothNomad Skyrim is my playground, Morrowind is my home.

[@davidboyle1902]

It’s a given that depictions of arrows shows them with feathers. And while attaching stone points to sticks follows, attaching feathers to arrows to stabilize their flight is not. That in invention is what transformed the arrow into a useful, kill-at-a-distance weapon. Another example of genius at work.

[@waynebimmel6784]

You are overlooking the sling and staff sling as weapons of war in prehistory. They were even lower tech, I recommend Tod's Workshop's Channel.

[@SabertoothNomad]

Only overlooking until I make a video about it :) Thanks

[@gfreeman9843]

The Romans had squads of slingers in the legions and they were lethal.Balaeric island slingers were highly valued.

[@andrewstrongman305]

Round stones were the first hunting weapon. Arrows from longbows were incapable of penetrating plate armour at any range.

[@gfreeman9843]

They were good at finding chinks in armour though and hit so hard that it would rattle the wearer..would penetrate chainmail with Bodkin arrowheads.they often splintered when hitting plate and send splintered wood flying around.Horses were vulnerable too. Only wealthy guys could afford good quality armour unless they could grab some as spoils of battle..Channel called Todd's Workshop tests these really well.

[@annagiesking5828]

Hey, neat, a new channel! Looks good, I'm in!

[@SabertoothNomad]

Awesome, welcome aboard :)

[@JohnTaylor-vj4hr]

People presume early arrowheads mean Bows. They don't. The Atlatla or Woomera is an invention that required far less technology than a Bow, and was obviously invented first. The Bow only became possible after rope making technology was sufficiently advanced, and very good wood selection was understood.

[@XX-qi5eu]

The bow and arrow drove the migrations around and out of Africa 60,000 years ago. No longer needing to follow large migrating herds animals, the bow and arrow allowed catching small prey and aquatic life along the coast away from the large predators that also followed the grass grazing animals. Along with advance sewing kits the bow and arrow allowed our ancestors to migrate into most of the world within 10,000 years and lastly to the America's 17,000 years ago. Couldn't of happened without the bow and arrow.

[@hasensaurus]

Longbow shot at greater distances than the short bow? mmmmnope. There was never such comparison made because at the time the english started using the longbow, the french were already equipped with crossbows as a standard weapon - which have accuracy and force, but only at short distances. If you put a longbow vs a turkish bow though, chinese or mongolian, you'll find out the longbow lacks, a lot. For an equal speed and arrow shot distance, the longbow must be 15-20 pounds of force bigger than the recurve to match. So a recurve of 40 pounds of force shoots the same as a longbow of 55 pounds of force. The longest distance of an arrow shot is still held by the turkish bow, at aprox 800m. So...unless you're a fan of western history, usually you don't pick the longbow as the bow of choice.

[@ebonyblack4563]

Love the skin scraping image you use so much, but it makes me wonder when you'll do a vid on leather craft in prehistory.

[@SabertoothNomad]

I've had a video on clothing but it didn't do very well. There will be another, better one at some point.

[@dhamodharanrani]

Bow and arrow was not present in North America for a long time, humans arrived there hunted megafauna with atlatl but when megafauna disappeared they long forgotten about bow, it took another group of humans crossing Alaska to spread bow which took 700 AD to spread it to all of Americas, in some places like Texas it took 500 AD to spread.

[@jdmbraceyourself695]

Probably from the Great Osage Tribe

[@easttowest7839]

Hey, the algorithm showed me to you. The tide might be turning in your favor. Seems like a fascinating channel

[@SabertoothNomad]

Thanks and welcome :)

[@raphlvlogs271]

the arrow as well as dart started out as a scaled down modified spear

[@geogemini8528]

Great video! I wish you mentioned composite bows like Mongolian horse bows, they also had a great impact on world history too. But again good video, I'm just nitpicking.

[@SabertoothNomad]

Oh I wish too, I wanted to include crossbows aswell. Some people would say they dont qualify but they totally do. Unfortunately I try to keep these short. Each topic will get an expanded 20 minute video in the future.

[@geogemini8528]

@@SabertoothNomad awesome! It was a really good video and I love archery. I always enjoyed the history of it too. Well im following you now so I look forward to your future videos.

[@dougcraft77]

Picture of man getting ready to shoot an arrow. 2:20 on #1. Holding bow, arrow is free under his hand on the wrong side of bow. He may shoot himself or his oversized friend to the right of him.

[@hanoverfisk2115]

Keep it up bro good work

[@SabertoothNomad]

Thanks mate, will do my best.

[@user-fl8yv7rz6f]

No mention of the slingshot, yet it's probably the oldest invention.

[@dand3953]

One primary weapon that predates even the spear is the stone missile. For that matter, humans specifically evolved ourselves to be masters at throwing stones. Especially as a community weapon, a group of men with an arsenal of stones could defeat a group of men with spears, as stones could be thrown farther and with much greater accuracy. It was developing the ability to throw stones that ultimately caused the development of our bodies to express spear-throwing more powerfully. Indeed, it was the development of slings used to enhance stone-throwing that ultimately led to the development of the atlatl, which performs similarly to assist in the enhanced slinging of spears.

[@gfreeman9843]

The Tongans threw stones at William Bligh and his men just after the mutiny.. Maori threw stones at Cook's ship...had a few stone battles with other kids when I was young too l.o.l.

[@krumst]

Animals were mostly hunted with traps. Weapons are developed primarily for fellow humans.

[@beanabong2896]

I wonder if the success of a group leaving Africa depended on the technology they used. So, the originators of the Neanderthal / Denisovan group innovated the spear. While the while modern humans created and mastered the bow and arrow which lead to their global dominance....sounds plausible.

[@SabertoothNomad]

Many groups almost certainly left Africa but did not survive the journey. I think we can be quite certain that the groups with best technology survived.

[@bruceryba5740]

I'm always looking for new information on the evolution of the bow. Some of my addictions are carving my own osage orange bows, atlatls, and darts. Also, a lifetime addiction to flint knapping, and so the natural progression to archery and spear throwers. (and still have a difficult time spelling "Atlatl") ---I have random questions. ---Did the idea for a bow come from the bow-shaped drill or fire-starting tool? ---Currently, in SA where archery may have been invented, the bows are tiny; my assumption is that this is because of lack of bow material. (or like in the SW US, the size was also small because of the string material and related draw) If so, when did the bow size increase, and are there other ancient drawings or evidence? (older than those in the Sahara) ----Did the bow follow the initial modern human migrations out of Africa as a valuable survival tool? I get the hint that the bow ceased use until after the last ice age. ----So was the bow invented in the distant past and re-invented? Any evidence for 70,000 years of continuous use? (asking because I do not know) -----The video indicates that the Atlatl was invented 20,000 years ago (I have no idea, so that number works for me.) But my impression is that Australians have been using the Atlatl since their arrival approximately 50,000 years ago. ---Is there evidence that the Aussies obtained the Atlatl only 20,000 years ago? ---Did the Andaman Islands (representing early human migrations) have the bow? ---In the southeast US, the appearance of the bow (and small arrowhead) seems to have accompanied the Native American Mississippian culture. Any records of something similar in other parts of the world? (besides the Mongols) ---Did the ancient (Aniu) have the bow? (Before the arrival of the modern Japanese) ---Did the Indo-European Yamnaya conquests use the bow? ---Did the use of the bow by the civilizations south of the Pontic-Caspian steppes (Anatolia and those three rivers keep the Yamnaya culture at bay? (I have seen the arrowheads from the Nordic areas-Yamnaya time frame, but I am not sure when the bow arrived. (There are the questions off the top of my head -will have more)

[@SabertoothNomad]

First of all I love your hobby I must try that. I can't answer all of your questions but I'll respond to 2 which I'm most confident in. I'm no expert but I do solid research for what is needed for my videos. First, lots of evidence is missing for anything this far back. Most notably actual physical objects, especially anything wooden, strings also. There isn't much art from this far back either so a lot is left to speculation for more complex ideas such as what came before the bow and arrow, what inspired the invention of this weapon. There could have been many tools 70, 000 years ago which we are not aware of today. For the same reason it's hard to tell when atlstls where also invented, most experts are certain it was already in use around 20,000 years ago. Anything earlier is not a certainty as far as I know. The whole situation on bows being used only in SA is interesting to me. I haven't looked into this too far since it would take a whole video to explain a topic like this. But from the very little research on this that I have done, there is no evidence of bows being used outside of Africa until around 20,000 - 30,000 years ago. Evidence would classify as either art, physical evidence of the Bow or in almost all cases just the stone arrowheads. Some experts claim it has been invented independently in some places but I haven't verified this yet. Why it hasn't spread through migrations during the ice age, I have no idea. Will be doing thorough research on that once I need the information. This might be a disappointing reply but I dislike the spread of uninformed opinions. I get informed on whichever the topic of my next video will be :) I hope you find your answers.

[@bruceryba5740]

@@SabertoothNomad Thank you Sabertooth! I knew many of the questions may never be answered. Except for specialists in some areas (Like the Aniu for example) As I typed the questions, I had a thought-I think the DNA evidence is pointing to multiple migrations of modern humans out of Africa, & perhaps one group of people migrated to the coastal route: South India, Andamans, and Australia, and they left Africa before the bow was widespread technology. Then the next group who had the bow followed a more inland migration. The bow may have allowed the early moderns to migrate away from the coast and hunt small game. ------------Just speculation: (very rambling) But in the megafauna world, the early variations of the bows were just not effective, and except for bow drills, the technology disappeared. Except for hunting birds, the early arrows would have just bounced off nearly all game, mammals larger than a raccoon. I get that idea, because even with the modern compound bows & carbon arrows, there is a 75% or more chance that the shot does not kill a whitetail deer, (sloppy shots, branches & weather) or the animal runs off wounded or die. --The bow does allow the hunter to remain hidden. But performed correctly, the spear or dart will at least puncture hide. That is not to deflect from the fact that a spear or Atlatl dart hunter faces the same problem, bad shots, tree branches, but there is a better chance that the wound will bleed out quicker with a bigger flint, wood or bone point. And the old hunters knew that almost all shots required tracking or running the game down. A great example of bow tech in the southeast US. The early Spanish came upon gulf coast tribes who used weak bows tipped with fish spines and they also met people who had bows so powerful that the Spaniards could not draw the bows. Points to a level of effort in the creation and string material. Of Note, all of the Spanish conquistadors feared the Atlatl

[@SabertoothNomad]

@@bruceryba5740 You know a lot on this subject. I've actually planned to include some of the info you mentioned here in this bow and arrow video but ended up scrapping it. Bows being used for hunting small game and the atlatl for hunting megafauna specifically. As for your speculation: I can see bows making it to europe during the ice age and getting rejected due to the abundance of megafauna and due to atlatl being the superior hunting weapon against those. That could be what had happened. Speculation ofc. Lets not forget that bow and arrow took much longer to learn also. Once megafauna was driven to or close to extinction I could see converting to bow and arrow being far easier. I wish we could know a bit more about these things, but I just think evidence must be very thin for such complex subjects this far back.

[@raphlvlogs271]

did other early human species also used bows and spear throwers as well?

[@SabertoothNomad]

There are many other tools such as boats that we have some evidence for. They might have been used by Neanderthals and maybe even Homofloresiensis. But no such evidence for bows and atlstls. Evidence like that would be hard to find.

[@Snuffy03]

The Aztecs and Mayans used the atlatl against the Spanish Conquistadores.

[@thehillbillygamer2183]

You're forgetting about man's best friend that helped us hunt I was right there by our side fighting with us and is still with us today man's most loyal friends the dog

[@PhilipFear]

The Atelatell was used on every continent of the planet

[@xbman1]

That mean they understand flight 70,000 years ago.

[@grahamparr3933]

Cannot believe it took so long to develop such a simple weapon🤔

[@Amberlynn_Reid]

What have you developed?

[@grahamparr3933]

@@Amberlynn_Reid a nasty rash🤔

[@Amberlynn_Reid]

@@grahamparr3933 exactly

[@captainmitchellcorvus]

Where are you from buddy?

[@SabertoothNomad]

Give me a guess and I will confirm.

[@1_Fish.2_Fish.Red_Fish.]

Can you imagine being the first person to figure this out and it’s importance?

[@SabertoothNomad]

I thought this would be a cool topic. I wish we knew a bit more about the people living in the early stone age period. We maybe wouldnt have to imagine how important these technological advancements were to them. Writing was good for that, it gave a person's perspective. I cant wait to make a video on that :)

[@carlc.4714]

Perhaps the first inventor of the bow was mocked for inventing a seemingly useless device? "Hahaha... Guys look! Harvey invented a bent stick with a string, capable of throwing little sticks! That's so cute!" 😅

[@Victor10576]

How come evry part of the world exept australia used a bow? i wouldnt think there could be a transmition of information that would enable evry people for each side of the world to use it

[@devneilrao9470]

Lord ram begin million ye Ars ago

[@cristiancoaraza7702]

👌🏼

[@michelleeden2272]

We must have commonsense bow and arrow laws. No quiver should hold more than eight arrows. All bows need to be registered. Assault bows should be banned.

[@SabertoothNomad]

Dont forget about the serial codes. They all must have them.

[@inserttapehere276]

NO SHORT BOWS AND DEFINITELY NO QUICK FIRING

[@mulematt6225]

OMG CROSSBOWS🤯

[@zipperpillow]

All draw fingers should be fingerprinted and registered. The brandishing of any draw finger should be considered an assault.

[@lloydwegener3956]

I agree Michelle you should also add loaded bows should not be carried in public

[@PNB2489]

The bows and arrows were used in India for the frst time lals of years ago while the remaning world is not born yet.

[@charliem5254]

My favorite mystery.

[@altair458]

The bow and arrow was invented by the british, along with gunpowder, television, space travel and everything else. If you don't believe me just ask any brit. I almost forgot they also invented bad teeth and bad cusine.

[@doratheexploder286]

bows did not beat plate armor, the only way was to hit between plates, like armpits, neck etc. Look at Tod`s videos on arrows vs armor. mail is no problem for a warbow with the right arrow head, but there\s no way it goes through a proper breastplate or helmet. kzbin.info/www/bejne/enPblYehmcl7l6c

[@SabertoothNomad]

From my research an arrow shot from a longbow, ~10 metres away from a plate armor wearer shot at exactly 90 degree angle into a breastplate, can certainly penetrate some breastplates. Not all but perhaps most. The angle at which the arrow comes into contact with armor is important, thats why lots of brestplates have curves and are rarely flat. Thank you for the comment, its a fair point to bring up.

[@doratheexploder286]

@@SabertoothNomad and by pentrate, do you mean the arrow made a tiny hole, or that it made it far enough through to cause bodily harm? keep in mind, the breastplate was worn over chain mail and a arming doublet as well.

[@stevejenkins9984]

Not bad but not nearly as involved as I hoped

[@SabertoothNomad]

Thanks for leaving a comment and sorry for this late repply but i'm curious, was there something specific you were expecting to see in the video?

[@gland1830]

Sorry. Can not handle the narration.

[@markbrown1412]

If you are interested in how long the bow and arrow have been in use, buy the book “the boyers’ bible”. Lots of facts, photos, etc. also teaches the different bows made in the past.