| # | Polity | Coded Value | Tags | Year(s) | Edit | Desc |
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Composite bows were present in nearby Mesopotamia, even Eastern Anatolia had become separated from this culture by around 2500 BCE: from about 2500 BC ‘From that moment onward the history of the site and of the region was completely separated from the history of the Syro-Mesopotamian areas and that of the southernmost region of the Middle/Upper Euphrates Valley; it now began to gravitate toward the eastern Anatolian world.’
[1]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[2]
Possibly introduced toward the end of this period?
[1]: Marcella Frangipane, ‘Arslantepe-Malatya: A Prehistoric and Early Historic Center in Eastern Anatolia’, The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000-323 BCE), Edited by Gregory McMahon and Sharon Steadman, 2011, p. 984 [2]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. |
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Composite bows were present in nearby Mesopotamia, even Eastern Anatolia had become separated from this culture by around 2500 BCE: from about 2500 BC ‘From that moment onward the history of the site and of the region was completely separated from the history of the Syro-Mesopotamian areas and that of the southernmost region of the Middle/Upper Euphrates Valley; it now began to gravitate toward the eastern Anatolian world.’
[1]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[2]
Possibly introduced toward the end of this period?
[1]: Marcella Frangipane, ‘Arslantepe-Malatya: A Prehistoric and Early Historic Center in Eastern Anatolia’, The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000-323 BCE), Edited by Gregory McMahon and Sharon Steadman, 2011, p. 984 [2]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. |
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Composite bows were present in nearby Mesopotamia, even Eastern Anatolia had become separated from this culture by around 2500 BCE: from about 2500 BC ‘From that moment onward the history of the site and of the region was completely separated from the history of the Syro-Mesopotamian areas and that of the southernmost region of the Middle/Upper Euphrates Valley; it now began to gravitate toward the eastern Anatolian world.’
[1]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[2]
Possibly introduced toward the end of this period?
[1]: Marcella Frangipane, ‘Arslantepe-Malatya: A Prehistoric and Early Historic Center in Eastern Anatolia’, The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000-323 BCE), Edited by Gregory McMahon and Sharon Steadman, 2011, p. 984 [2]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. |
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"The first composite bow with bone reinforced ’ears’, a major development, may have been used around Lake Baikal, c.500 BC. Despite many individual external differences, across the steppe, and across time, the composite bow would remain essentially uniform in construction method."
[1]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[2]
[1]: (Karasulas 2004, 19) [2]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. |
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"The first composite bow with bone reinforced ’ears’, a major development, may have been used around Lake Baikal, c.500 BC. Despite many individual external differences, across the steppe, and across time, the composite bow would remain essentially uniform in construction method."
[1]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[2]
[1]: (Karasulas 2004, 19) [2]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. |
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(ibid.)
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A staple of the region’s militaries for the previous millennium.
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Developed later.
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Used by mounted archers?
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we need expert input in order to code this variable
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Developed later.
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Developed later.
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Composite bow not known to have been developed at this early time.
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
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Checked by Peter Peregrine.
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"Infantry in the 6th and 7th centuries was divided into pu-pin, or marching infantry, armed with spears, and pu-she, or archers. The crossbow, the principal weapon of Han infantry, appears to have been less common in this period than the composite bow, although there are hints that it may have retained its importance in the south."
[1]
[1]: (Peers 2002, 17) |
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Composite bow not known to have been developed at this early time.
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No discussion in literature of this. In this case it is evidence of absence since this is in line with logical expectations for this late-complexity society.
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the sources mention machetes, rifles and arrows but to the best of our knowledge no other weapons were used at the time
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"The use of a new technique of gluing strips of horn and sinew to a wooden self bow produced the more elastic composite bow, with a considerably greater range than before."
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 42) Shaw, Ian. 1991. Egyptian Warfare and Weapons. Princes Risborough: Shire. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
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"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[1]
[1]: (Roy 2015: 20) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/UDN2ZHFD |
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Inferred from the absence of composite bows in previous and subsequent polities in Cuzco.
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Not mentioned in the literature.
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Not mentioned in the literature.
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Not mentioned in the literature.
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Not mentioned in the literature.
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Inferred from previous and succeeding (quasi)polities.
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Inferred from the absence of composite bows in past and future polities in Paris Basin
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Inferred from the absence of composite bows in past and future polities in Paris Basin
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Not discussed in consulted literature RA.
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Not mentioned in the literature.
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Not mentioned in the literature.
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Not mentioned in the literature RA.
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no mention in sources; does not make sense for time period
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It is unlikely these were used, as later in Hawaiian prehistory bows and arrows were used only for sport, not for war
[1]
. Moreover it is implausible that a weapon as complex as a compound bow would be invented but then abandoned, leaving no archaeological trace.
[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pg. 70. |
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’From the Kushans, the Indians learnt the use of composite bows. The Sanchi sculptures which can be dated to the first century BC show many soldiers carrying strung and unstrung composite bows. Murray B. Emeneau writes that the Guptas used Sassanian types of composite bows.’
[1]
[1]: (Roy 2013, 23) Kaushik Roy. 2013. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London. |
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Brought to India by the Kushans.
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Not mentioned by sources in lists of artefacts found at sites in the region dating to this time.
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The composite bow came to India with the Kushanas but"After the collapse of the Gupta Empire, the use of composite bows died out in India."
[1]
[1]: (Roy 2011: 122) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TXZNKIH8. |
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Present in previous and subsequent polities.
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"The later third-millennium development of the composite bow revolutionized warfare."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 188) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
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Arrowheads have been found, but is unlikely to be a more sophisticated bow at this time. "Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[1]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. |
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Arrowheads have been found, but is unlikely to be a more sophisticated bow at this time. "Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[1]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. |
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Arrowheads have been found, but is unlikely to be a more sophisticated bow at this time. "Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[1]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. |
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Arrowheads have been found, but is unlikely to be a more sophisticated bow at this time. "Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[1]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. |
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No evidence of bows for this period, so it is unlikely to be a more sophisticated bow. "Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[1]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. |
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Very few Bronze Age composite bows still exist, although many have been found in Egyptian tombs and are made reference to in literary sources and visual sources.
[1]
[1]: (Howard 2011: 29) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GRTPCZB4. |
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
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Nomadic horsemen used the composite bow.
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"It is no wonder that the skill required to produce steel swords over charcoal fires seemed supernatural. The same could be said for bow makers, who required great time and expertise to make the composite bows, which still set distance records exceeding those of European-style longbows “by humiliating margins.”83"
[1]
[1]: (Findley 2005, 45) |
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Jacq-Hergoualc’h’s in-depth and authoritative analysis of Khmer weaponry includes no mention of compound bows. ’They hold their bows almost vertically, left arm taut, the thumb on the inside of the flexed bow, the end of the arrow being upheld by the hand, with the right hand drawing back the bowstring as far as the chin, and holding the base of the arrow.’
[1]
[1]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, p. 22) |
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Inferred from the absence of composite bows in the subsequent polities, and not specifically mentioned in the sources.
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Present in Egypt at this time - the regime in the Morocco probably used weapons similar to those of its neighbours. We could also check - as yet unconsulted - references for Christians in contemporary Iberia who may have been used as mercenaries.
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Known since the Xiongnu
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Weapons other than obsidian swords, bows and arrows, slings, spears and atlatls are not known for this period.
[1]
[1]: Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. |
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"Bows and arrows were still unknown."
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 47) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
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Not mentioned in detailed descriptions and lists of Toltec weaponry.
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[This link (EXTERNAL_INLINE_LINK: http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/manufacturing/text/viking_bow.htm ) claims that self bow (longbows) were common among Vikings but composite bows may also have been present. Sources usually do not make clear whether bows were self or composite bows. We think the self bow was present and the composite bow probably also although neither was common.]
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this technology has not been found in the Americas
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This technology has not been found in the Americas.
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this technology has not been found in the Americas
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this technology has not been found in the Americas
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"in Juzjani’s Tabaqat-i Nasiri and obtained from an eye-witness ... light-armed cavalry (sawar-i baraha wa-jarida)... These are clearly shown a few lines later to have been mounted archers".
[1]
Ghaznavid and Ghurid armies: infantry "carried bows, maces, short swords and spears".
[2]
[1]: (Jackson 2003, 17) Peter Jackson. 2003. The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. [2]: (Wink 1997, 90) Andre Wink. 1997. Al-Hind the Making of the Indo-Islamic World. Volume II: The Slave Kings and the Islamic Conquest 11th-13th Centuries. BRILL. Leiden. |
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not mentioned in any of the sources that deal with weapons and armor
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"a mid-tenth-century text (Dain 1938: §39.4) gives some details on the bow used by Byzantine soldiers: the basic model remained that of the Hunnic bow, adopted in the fifth and sixth century, measuring from 45 to 48 inches in length, with arrows of 27 inches (McGeer 1995; Breccia 2004)."
[1]
[1]: (Haldon 2008, 477) Jeffreys E, Haldon J and Cormack R eds. 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Byzantine Studies. Oxford University Press. Oxford. |
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"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[1]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[2]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [2]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. |
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Checked by Peter Peregrine.
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Checked by Peter Peregrine.
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Checked by Peter Peregrine.
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Checked by Peter Peregrine.
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Checked by Peter Peregrine.
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Checked by Peter Peregrine.
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Checked by Peter Peregrine.
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Checked by Peter Peregrine.
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"In the seventh century the Arab Caliphate overran the Sāssānian Empire and, as far as we can tell, no great changes took place in the Persian equipment then or for a long time afterwards."
[1]
In the Sassanid period a cavalryman used the reflex bow.
[2]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. [2]: (Mitterauer 2010, 106) Mitterauer, M. 2010. Why Europe?: The Medieval Origins of Its Special Path. University of Chicago Press. |
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Not mentioned by sources.
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Engravings from the Oxus temple of Takht-i Sangin show mounted archers with compound bow.
[1]
Composite bow.
[2]
Saka warriors who destroyed the Greco-Bactrian city of Ai Khanoum in 145 BCE (and may have used similar military technology to the Kushan nomads) used bows, lances and long swords.
[3]
Yuezhi were mounted archers supported by heavy lancers.
[4]
[1]: The armies of Bactria 70 BC-450 AD p. 11, 59. [2]: (Mukhamedjanov 1994, 269) Mukhamedjanov, A R. Economy and Social System in Central Asia in the Kushan Age. in Harmatta J, Puri B N and Etemadi G F eds. 1994. History of civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. UNESCO. [3]: (McLaughlin 2016, 76) Raoul McLaughlin. 2016. The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes: The Ancient World Economy and the Empires of Parthia, Central Asia and Han China. Pen and Sword History. Barnsley. [4]: (McLaughlin 2016, 77) Raoul McLaughlin. 2016. The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes: The Ancient World Economy and the Empires of Parthia, Central Asia and Han China. Pen and Sword History. Barnsley. |
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Parthian king Artabanus II killed in battle 124-125 BCE "in the region of Bactria against the ’Tochai’ perhaps the Yueh-chi of the Chinese records, he received a wound in the forearm, possibly from a poisoned weapon, which almost immediately caused his death."
[1]
"Among their weapons we find the compound bow, bronze and bone arrowheads (their arrows also contained beads that gave them a whistling effect), broadswords, short swords, lances, and maces."
[2]
[1]: (Debevoise 1938, 37-38) Debevoise, Neilson C. 1938. A Political History of Parthia. University of Chicago Press Chicago. https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/political_history_parthia.pdf [2]: (Golden 1992, 60) |
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we need expert input in order to code this variable
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Composite bow not known to have been developed at this early time. First evidence for the composite bow comes from the Late Shang.
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In the late fourteenth century, soldiers in southwestern Yunnan were still primarily armed with spears and crossbows, while firearms were being used primarily by the Ming troops which contributed to their military success. The Ming troops frequently employed fire arrows and ’rocket-arrows’ in addition to the stone projectiles launched from their firearms against Maw Chan soldiers and elephant cavalry.
[1]
[1]: (Laichen, 2008, p.499-500) |
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4th Century not necessarily specific to Northern Wei: "horsemen wielded lances, swords and halberds, as well as bows, but horse-archer remained an important aristocratic accomplishment."
[1]
by mid-4th century BCE crossbows used in large numbers on battlefield
[2]
cavalry from 4th century BCE [2] [1]: (Peers 1995, 34) [2]: (Graff 2002, 22) |
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The long reflexed composite bow was introduced by the Manchu of the Qing Dynasty and was capable of propelling heavy arrows with great force. They were not well suited for horseback, but their durability and power ensured that they became the standard bow of China, Manchu-dominated Mongolia and Tibet. Typically made with a bamboo core, horn belly, sinew backing, and wooden tips and handle.
[1]
[1]: (Grayson, French and O’Brien 2007, p.11) |
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The long reflexed composite bow was introduced by the Manchu of the Qing Dynasty and was capable of propelling heavy arrows with great force. They were not well suited for horseback, but their durability and power ensured that they became the standard bow of China, Manchu-dominated Mongolia and Tibet. Typically made with a bamboo core, horn belly, sinew backing, and wooden tips and handle.
[1]
[1]: (Grayson, French and O’Brien 2007, p.11) |
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Composite retroflex bow.
[1]
"the typical Chinese composite bow... was already in use under the Shang".
[2]
Used the compound bow.
[3]
[1]: (Gernet 1996, 44) [2]: Sawyer, R. 2011. Ancient Chinese Warfare. Basic Books. [3]: (The Shang Dynasty, 1600 to 1050 BCE. Spice Digest, Fall 2007. http://iis-db.stanford.edu/docs/117/ShangDynasty.pdf) |
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"Infantry in the 6th and 7th centuries was divided into pu-pin, or marching infantry, armed with spears, and pu-she, or archers. The crossbow, the principal weapon of Han infantry, appears to have been less common in this period than the composite bow, although there are hints that it may have retained its importance in the south."
[1]
[1]: (Peers 2002, 17) |
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"Infantry in the 6th and 7th centuries was divided into pu-pin, or marching infantry, armed with spears, and pu-she, or archers. The crossbow, the principal weapon of Han infantry, appears to have been less common in this period than the composite bow, although there are hints that it may have retained its importance in the south."
[1]
[1]: (Peers 2002, 17) |
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"bows (now only the bronze bow clamps exist), and arrows as shooting weapons"
[1]
"The advancement of bronze technology and the use of bronze weapons gave the Shang military great advantage over their enemies and completely changed the way they fought wars. They used newly-developed weapons like the bronze-tipped halberd and spear, the compound bow; and most importantly, they used horse-drawn chariots."
[2]
[1]: (Hong 1992, 89) Hong, Yang. 1992. Weapons in Ancient China. Science Press. [2]: http://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/docs/the_shang_dynasty_1600_to_1050_bce/ |
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|
the sources mention machetes, rifles and arrows but to the best of our knowledge no other weapons were used at the time
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"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[1]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[2]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [2]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. |
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"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[1]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[2]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [2]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. |
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|
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[1]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[2]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [2]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. |
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|
It is unlikely these were used, as later in Hawaiian prehistory bows and arrows were used only for sport, not for war
[1]
. Moreover it is implausible that a weapon as complex as a compound bow would be invented but then abandoned, leaving no archaeological trace.
[1]: Kirch, P. V. 2010. How Chiefs Became Kings: Divine Kingship and the Rise of Archaic States in Ancient Hawai’i. Berkeley: University of California Press. Pg. 70. |
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|
[1]
Cretans were famous archers.
[2]
refers to Greek mercenaries, who were likely used similar to Saite period and contemporary Greeks.
[3]
"In western Asia, [the self bow] was replaced by the composite bow. In Egypt, the self-bow continued to be widely used, especially by Nubian troops."
[4]
[1]: Everson, T. 2004. Warfare in Ancient Greece: Arms and Armour from the Heroes of Homer to Alexander the Great, Sutton. [2]: Fischer-Bovet. 2014, Army and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt, Cambridge 135-138. [3]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 17) Christelle Fischer-Bovet. 2014. Army and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [4]: (Morkot 2010: 50) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/AHFJE5Z2. |
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|
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[1]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[2]
Hyksos introduced composite bow into region.
[3]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [2]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. [3]: (http://www.cemml.colostate.edu/cultural/09476/egypt02-04enl.html) |
||||||
|
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[1]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[2]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [2]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
[1]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[2]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[3]
[1]: Gilbert, G. P. 2004. Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt. BAR International Series 1208: Oxford. pg: 34-70, 166-183 [2]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [3]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
[1]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[2]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[3]
[1]: Gilbert, G. P. 2004. Weapons, Warriors and Warfare in Early Egypt. BAR International Series 1208: Oxford. pg: 34-70, 166-183 [2]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [3]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[1]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[2]
Evidence for bronze arrowheads and spearheads. Spearheads and arrowheads initially flintstone and bone, then replaced by bronze.
[3]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [2]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. [3]: (Gnirs 2001) |
||||||
|
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[1]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[2]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [2]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
"In western Asia, [the self bow] was replaced by the composite bow. In Egypt, the self-bow continued to be widely used, especially by Nubian troops."
[1]
Used to attack elephants and their drivers (bow type not specified).
[2]
Cretan archers
[3]
[1]: (Morkot 2010: 50) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/AHFJE5Z2. [2]: (Lloyd 2000, 395) [3]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 135-138) |
||||||
|
"In western Asia, [the self bow] was replaced by the composite bow. In Egypt, the self-bow continued to be widely used, especially by Nubian troops."
[1]
Used to attack elephants and their drivers (bow type not specified).
[2]
Cretan archers
[3]
[1]: (Morkot 2010: 50) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/AHFJE5Z2. [2]: (Lloyd 2000, 395) [3]: (Fischer-Bovet 2014, 135-138) |
||||||
|
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[1]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[2]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [2]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[1]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[2]
Composite bows in the Old Akkadian style.
[3]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [2]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. [3]: (Booth 2005, 37) |
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|
Lances, swords, crossbowmen, longbows, pikemen were of central importance on the battlefield for at least 200 years after the first guns until the Battle of Carignola (1503 CE) which was probably decided by guns and Marignano (1515 CE) when Swiss squares were beaten by cavalry shooting pistols and cannon artillery.
[1]
The first Bourbon era 1589-1660 CE is firmly after the transition to firearm dominance so at this time the old weapons must have played only a minor role in warfare or had been completely abandoned.
[1]: (Nolan 2006, 367) Cathal J Nolan. 2006. The Age of Wars of Religion, 1000-1650: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization. Volume 1 A - K. Greenwood Press. Westport. |
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|
"The bow was first used by the Franks in the 4th century but did not become a required arm of the Frankish infantry until the time of Charlemagne. These early archers generally were equipped with a short bow of simple wood construction. But in the following centuries bows were improved by the addition of horn, sinew, and glue in a composite construction complete with angled ears to give more pull to the bowstring."
[1]
[1]: (De Vries in Kibler et al 1995, 114) |
||||||
|
"The bow was first used by the Franks in the 4th century but did not become a required arm of the Frankish infantry until the time of Charlemagne. These early archers generally were equipped with a short bow of simple wood construction. But in the following centuries bows were improved by the addition of horn, sinew, and glue in a composite construction complete with angled ears to give more pull to the bowstring."
[1]
[1]: (De Vries in Kibler et al 1995, 114) |
||||||
|
Inferred from the absence of composite bows in past and future polities in Paris Basin
|
||||||
|
"The rise of crossbows lead to the virtual disappearance of the simple bows as war weapons in France and no hand bows are recorded in surviving castle inventories from 1230 to the mid-14th century."
[1]
With the influx of crossbows, the use of short bows died out in French armies, and by the 13th century they were not considered a weapon of war
[2]
Longbowmen and mounted archers hired as mercenaries.
[2]
[1]: (Nicolle 1991, 11-12) David Nicolle. 1991. French Medieval Armies 1000-1300. Osprey Publishing Ltd. London. [2]: (De Vries 1995, 114) W W Kibler. G A Zinn. 1995. Medieval France: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. |
||||||
|
"With the influx of crossbows, the use of short bows died out in French armies, and by the 13th century they were not considered a weapon of war in most parts of Europe. However, they did persist as hunting weapons. During the late Middle Ages, the crossbow dominated the archery of the French army, although some French military leaders attempted to hire groups of short - and longbowmen from Scotland and mounted archers from Spain and Italy."
[1]
Archers from Brittany - simple bow?
[2]
[1]: (De Vries in Kibler 1995, 114) [2]: (Potter 2008, 72) |
||||||
|
The sources indicate the use of bows and arrows prior and parallel to the use of firearms but do not indicate whether self bows or composite bows were used.
|
||||||
|
Although bows were not preserved, representational evidence and arrowheads suggest that this offensive weapon was widely used. The earliest arrowheads were made of flint band obsidian while bronze ones started appeared during the 15th century BCE.
[1]
About 110 bronze arrowheads were found at Knossos while a single tablet from the Knossian archive records 8,640 arrowheads.
[2]
The charred remains of two wooden boxes containing carbonized arrow-shafts and arrow-heads were found in the "Armoury" of the palace at Knossos.
[3]
[1]: Georganas,I. "Weapons and warfare," in Cline, E. (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age Aegean (ca. 3000-1000 BC), Oxford, 308 [2]: Ventris, M. and Chawick, J. 1973. Documents in Mycenaean Greek, Cambridge, 361. [3]: Evans, A.1935. The Palace of Minos at Knossos, IV, 617, 836-40. |
||||||
|
The ruling class were Hindu Indians and their contemporaries in the Indian Chalukyan Kingdom had "swords, shields, spears, clubs, lances, bows and arrows etc."
[1]
[1]: (Sreenivasa Murthy and Ramakrishnan 1975, 93) H V Sreenivasa Murthy and R Ramakrishnan. 1975. A History of Karnataka. Vivek Prakashan. |
||||||
|
No mention of the composite bow. Old Mataram was a ’highly Indianized culture’ until it was replaced by an East Javanese one "that increasingly promoted various elements of the island’s older indigenous traditions."
[1]
The switch-over did not occur until the end of the Kediri Kingdom: it was the Singhasari Kingdom that witnessed ’the decline of Hindu culture and civilisation in Java and the succession of Javanese culture.’
[2]
Temple reliefs from earlier periods contain murals showing clubs, swords, bows and arrows, spears, shields, armour, knives, halberds.
[3]
Indian military terms surviving in Javanese: "war, weapon, sword, lance, armour, shield, helmet, banner, battle, siege, fortress, soldier, officer, enemy, spy, etc."
[4]
[1]: (Unesco 2005, 233) Unesco. 2005. The Restoration of Borobudur. Unesco. [2]: (Rao 2005, 213) B V Rao. 2005. History of Asia. Sterling Publishers Pvt Ltd. New Dawn Press, Inc. Elgin. [3]: (Draeger 1972, 23, 27) D F Draeger. 1972. Weapons and Fighting Arts of Indonesia. Tuttle Publishing. [4]: (Kumara 2007, 161) Sasiprabha Kumara. 2007. Sanskrit Across Cultures. Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi. |
||||||
|
"The reappearance of the spear in these reliefs, while the use of the bow is confined to human heroes, suggests an increasing pressure to resume use of local types of weapons."
[1]
[1]: (Powell 2002, 325) John Powell. 2002. Weapons & Warfare: Ancient and medieval weapons and warfare (to 1500). Salem Press. |
||||||
|
Old Mataram was a ’highly Indianized culture’ until it was replaced by an East Javanese one "that increasingly promoted various elements of the island’s older indigenous traditions."
[1]
In southern India the Chalukyas had "swords, shields, spears, clubs, lances, bows and arrows etc."
[2]
[1]: (Unesco 2005, 233) Unesco. 2005. The Restoration of Borobudur. Unesco. [2]: (Sreenivasa Murthy and Ramakrishnan 1975, 93) H V Sreenivasa Murthy and R Ramakrishnan. 1975. A History of Karnataka. Vivek Prakashan. |
||||||
|
Composite bows were known as far back as the Early Bronze period in the Levant, though they were uncommon and the simple bow was more frequently used.
[1]
However, they were replaced almost entirely with composite bows in the Middle Bronze period. "Indeed, the introduction of the chariot ca. 2000 B.C. coincided with the development of the composite bow, which quickly replaced the simple bow in most military contexts."
[2]
[1]: Burke (2004:62-63). [2]: Burke (2004:57). |
||||||
|
Composite bows were known as far back as the Early Bronze period in the Levant, though they were uncommon and the simple bow was more frequently used.
[1]
However, they were replaced almost entirely with composite bows in the Middle Bronze period. "Indeed, the introduction of the chariot ca. 2000 B.C. coincided with the development of the composite bow, which quickly replaced the simple bow in most military contexts."
[2]
There is little reason to believe that composite bows fell out of use during the Iron Age.
[1]: Burke (2004:62-63). [2]: Burke (2004:57). |
||||||
|
Inferred from use in preceding and succeeding polities. A bow shorter than the longer bows were used by infantry. One was straight in the middle and curved in at each end.
[1]
The composite bow came to India with the Kushanas but "after the collapse of the Gupta Empire, the use of composite bows died out in India."
[2]
[1]: (Egerton 2002, 12) Wilbraham Egerton. 2002 (1880). Indian and Oriental Arms and Armour. Dover Publications, Inc. Mineola. [2]: (Roy 2011, 122) Kaushik Roy. Historiographical Survey of the Writings on Indian Military History. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya. ed. 2011. Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography. Primus Books. Delhi. |
||||||
|
"The Hindus used bows made of cane or bamboos which were inferior in range, accuracy and penetrative power when compared to the composite bows."
[1]
Composite bow came to India with the Kushanas but "after the collapse of the Gupta Empire, the use of composite bows died out in India."
[1]
[1]: (Roy 2011, 122) Kaushik Roy. Historiographical Survey of the Writings on Indian Military History. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya. ed. 2011. Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography. Primus Books. Delhi. |
||||||
|
"The Hindus used bows made of cane or bamboos which were inferior in range, accuracy and penetrative power when compared to the composite bows."
[1]
Composite bow came to India with the Kushanas but "after the collapse of the Gupta Empire, the use of composite bows died out in India."
[1]
[1]: (Roy 2011, 122) Kaushik Roy. Historiographical Survey of the Writings on Indian Military History. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya. ed. 2011. Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography. Primus Books. Delhi. |
||||||
|
’From the Kushans, the Indians learnt the use of composite bows. The Sanchi sculptures which can be dated to the first century BC show many soldiers carrying strung and unstrung composite bows. Murray B. Emeneau writes that the Guptas used Sassanian types of composite bows.’
[1]
[1]: (Roy 2013, 23) Kaushik Roy. 2013. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
Not mentioned by sources in lists of artefacts found at sites in the region dating to this time.
|
||||||
|
See above.
|
||||||
|
‘Bows and arrows are well known to the Garos, but they are very seldom used; in fact, I have never seen a bow in the Garo Hills. Garo atés, or choppers, vary in shape according to locality and the source from which they are obtained, for they are not made in the hills. In the south, the pattern is that which the Bengali ryot makes use of; in the north, the implements are purchased from, and are of the pattern used by the inhabitants of the western Khasi Hills.’
[1]
‘Bows and arrows are not used by them now. They say they used them formerly. In folktales, mention of bows and arrows is found. Spear is very rarely used for killing animals. They are rather used for self protection. Very few people have guns. Others remain satisfied with spear, mongreng, banuk, dao (all three are different forms of axe), etc., for their self protection and also for occasional huntings. Those who live near a river or a stream pass many hours of the day and at times of night as well in fishing. They use various methods in catching fish. For the purpose of this paper, it is not necessary to describe them here.’
[2]
[1]: Playfair, Alan 1909. “Garos”, 32 [2]: Sinha, Tarunchandra 1966. “Psyche Of The Garos”, 21 |
||||||
|
"The Hindus used bows made of cane or bamboos which were inferior in range, accuracy and penetrative power when compared to the composite bows."
[1]
The composite bow came to India with the Kushanas but "after the collapse of the Gupta Empire, the use of composite bows died out in India."
[1]
[1]: (Roy 2011, 122) Kaushik Roy. Historiographical Survey of the Writings on Indian Military History. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya. ed. 2011. Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography. Primus Books. Delhi. |
||||||
|
"The Sanchi sculptures which can be dated to the first century BC show many soldiers carrying strung and unstrung composite bows. Murray B. Emeneau writes that the Guptas used Sassanian types of composite bows."
[1]
The composite bow came to India with the Kushanas but "after the collapse of the Gupta Empire, the use of composite bows died out in India."
[2]
[1]: (Roy 2016, 23) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon. [2]: (Roy 2011, 122) Kaushik Roy. Historiographical Survey of the Writings on Indian Military History. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya. ed. 2011. Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography. Primus Books. Delhi. |
||||||
|
The composite bow came to India with the Kushanas but "after the collapse of the Gupta Empire, the use of composite bows died out in India."
[1]
[1]: (Roy 2011, 122) Kaushik Roy. Historiographical Survey of the Writings on Indian Military History. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya. ed. 2011. Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography. Primus Books. Delhi. |
||||||
|
"The Hindus used bows made of cane or bamboos which were inferior in range, accuracy and penetrative power when compared to the composite bows."
[1]
Composite bow came to India with the Kushanas but "after the collapse of the Gupta Empire, the use of composite bows died out in India."
[1]
[1]: (Roy 2011, 122) Kaushik Roy. Historiographical Survey of the Writings on Indian Military History. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya. ed. 2011. Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography. Primus Books. Delhi. |
||||||
|
"The Hindus used bows made of cane or bamboos which were inferior in range, accuracy and penetrative power when compared to the composite bows."
[1]
Composite bow came to India with the Kushanas but "after the collapse of the Gupta Empire, the use of composite bows died out in India."
[1]
’From the Kushans, the Indians learnt the use of composite bows. The Sanchi sculptures which can be dated to the first century BC show many soldiers carrying strung and unstrung composite bows. Murray B. Emeneau writes that the Guptas used Sassanian types of composite bows.’
[2]
[1]: (Roy 2011, 122) Kaushik Roy. Historiographical Survey of the Writings on Indian Military History. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya. ed. 2011. Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography. Primus Books. Delhi. [2]: (Roy 2013, 23) Kaushik Roy. 2013. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
Syrian archers used the compound bow.
|
||||||
|
"The Hindus used bows made of cane or bamboos which were inferior in range, accuracy and penetrative power when compared to the composite bows."
[1]
Composite bow came to India with the Kushanas but "after the collapse of the Gupta Empire, the use of composite bows died out in India."
[1]
[1]: (Roy 2011, 122) Kaushik Roy. Historiographical Survey of the Writings on Indian Military History. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya. ed. 2011. Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography. Primus Books. Delhi. |
||||||
|
The composite bow came to India with the Kushanas but "after the collapse of the Gupta Empire, the use of composite bows died out in India."
[1]
[1]: (Roy 2011, 122) Kaushik Roy. Historiographical Survey of the Writings on Indian Military History. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya. ed. 2011. Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography. Primus Books. Delhi. |
||||||
|
Composite Bows and Crossbows.
[1]
[2]
[3]
[1]: J.J.L. Gommans, Mughal Warfare: Indian Frontiers and Highroads to Empire 1500 1700. London: Routledge, 2002 [2]: William Irvine, The army of the Indian Moghuls: its organization and administration (1903),pp. 90-102 [3]: De la Garza, A. 2010. Mughals at War: Babur, Akbar and the Indian Military Revolution, 1500 - 1605. The Ohio State University. Unpublished PhD dissertation. |
||||||
|
"The later third-millennium development of the composite bow revolutionized warfare."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 188) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
||||||
|
"The Hindus used bows made of cane or bamboos which were inferior in range, accuracy and penetrative power when compared to the composite bows."
[1]
Composite bow came to India with the Kushanas but "after the collapse of the Gupta Empire, the use of composite bows died out in India."
[1]
[1]: (Roy 2011, 122) Kaushik Roy. Historiographical Survey of the Writings on Indian Military History. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya. ed. 2011. Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography. Primus Books. Delhi. |
||||||
|
"The Hindus used bows made of cane or bamboos which were inferior in range, accuracy and penetrative power when compared to the composite bows."
[1]
Composite bow came to India with the Kushanas but "after the collapse of the Gupta Empire, the use of composite bows died out in India."
[1]
’From the Kushans, the Indians learnt the use of composite bows. The Sanchi sculptures which can be dated to the first century BC show many soldiers carrying strung and unstrung composite bows. Murray B. Emeneau writes that the Guptas used Sassanian types of composite bows.’
[2]
[1]: (Roy 2011, 122) Kaushik Roy. Historiographical Survey of the Writings on Indian Military History. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya. ed. 2011. Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography. Primus Books. Delhi. [2]: (Roy 2013, 23) Kaushik Roy. 2013. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
Introduced later by the Kushans and used for a brief period thereafter. According to one military historian (this data needs to be confirmed by a polity specialist) the Mauryan army infantry also used a composite bow called the sarnga in small numbers.
[1]
Inferred from continuity with Mauryan polity .
[2]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 219) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies Of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [2]: (Roy 2016, 19) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon. |
||||||
|
Introduced later by the Kushans and used for a brief period thereafter. According to one military historian (this data needs to be confirmed by a polity specialist) the Mauryan army infantry also used a composite bow called the sarnga in small numbers.
[1]
Inferred from continuity with Mauryan polity .
[2]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 219) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies Of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [2]: (Roy 2016, 19) Kaushik Roy. 2016. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. Abingdon. |
||||||
|
"The Hindus used bows made of cane or bamboos which were inferior in range, accuracy and penetrative power when compared to the composite bows."
[1]
Composite bow came to India with the Kushanas but "after the collapse of the Gupta Empire, the use of composite bows died out in India."
[1]
’From the Kushans, the Indians learnt the use of composite bows. The Sanchi sculptures which can be dated to the first century BC show many soldiers carrying strung and unstrung composite bows. Murray B. Emeneau writes that the Guptas used Sassanian types of composite bows.’
[2]
[1]: (Roy 2011, 122) Kaushik Roy. Historiographical Survey of the Writings on Indian Military History. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya. ed. 2011. Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography. Primus Books. Delhi. [2]: (Roy 2013, 23) Kaushik Roy. 2013. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
Under the Abbasids, ’Arab’ and Persian’ bows mentioned in sources, both composite bows.
[1]
The Abbasids used Turkish mercenaries who likely used the composite bow.
[1]: (Kennedy 2001, 177-178) Kennedy, Hugh N. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the early Islamic State. Vol. 352. Routledge. |
||||||
|
According to one military historian (data needs to be checked by an expert for this polity) heavy cavalry and light infantry carried the bow, the type not specified by the author.
[1]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[2]
However, the composite bow is present in previous and subsequent polities.
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 162-163) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [2]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. |
||||||
|
Tatar composite bow "fired a heavier arrow with a shorter range."
[1]
"each man carrying a bow with thirty arrows in his quiver."
[2]
[1]: (Marozzi 2004, 100) Marozzi, J. 2004. Tamerlane. HarperCollinsPublishers. London. [2]: (Marozzi 2004, 183) Marozzi, J. 2004. Tamerlane. HarperCollinsPublishers. London. |
||||||
|
"The first evidence of the composite bow appears on the victory stele of Naram Sin (2254-2218 B.C.E.)".
[1]
"The effective range of the simple bow varied from 50 to 100 yards. And the arrow shot by a simple bow was unable to penetrate leather or bronze armour. The effective range of the composite bows varied between 250 and 300 yards."
[2]
"The composite bow was a recurve bow made of wood, horn and tendons from oxen, carefully laminated together. These bows were probably invented by the nomads of the Eurasian steppe and brought into Sumer by the mercenary nomads."
[2]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[3]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[2]
Sargon "took advantage of new weapons, such as the modernized bow."
[4]
"Ranged weapons were featured more prominently, with Akkadian soldiers typically depicted carrying bows, broad-bladed battle axes,7 and spears (Westenholz 1999: 65–6)."
[5]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 28) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [2]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. [3]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [4]: (Baizerman 2015) Baizerman, Michael. 2015. Dawn and Sunset: A Tale of the Oldest Cities in the Near East. AuthorHouse. [5]: (Stefanski, Arthur. 2008. “The Material Culture of Early Dynastic Akkadian Period Conflict: Copper and Bronze Melee Weapons from Khafajah.” The Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies. 13: 15) |
||||||
|
"The later third-millennium development of the composite bow revolutionized warfare."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 188) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
||||||
|
"The later third-millennium development of the composite bow revolutionized warfare."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 188) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
||||||
|
"The later third-millennium development of the composite bow revolutionized warfare."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 188) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
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"The later third-millennium development of the composite bow revolutionized warfare."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 188) McIntosh, J. 2005. Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspective. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
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"The effective range of the simple bow varied from 50 to 100 yards. And the arrow shot by a simple bow was unable to penetrate leather or bronze armour. The effective range of the composite bows varied between 250 and 300 yards."
[1]
However, the composite bow itself could not penetrate armour more than 2mm thick [all designs or just the early designs?] and was susceptible to rotting in high-moisture environments.
[2]
"The composite bow was a recurve bow made of wood, horn and tendons from oxen, carefully laminated together. These bows were probably invented by the nomads of the Eurasian steppe and brought into Sumer by the mercenary nomads."
[1]
Assyria had highly organized ranks of archers who used strong bows with iron arrowheads.
[3]
Simple and composite bows, latter with range of 150-200m.
[4]
[1]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 28) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: (Dupuy and Dupuy 2007, 10) [4]: (Chadwick 2005, 76) |
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"The later third-millennium development of the composite bow revolutionized warfare."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 188) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
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"The first evidence of the composite bow appears on the victory stele of Naram Sin (2254-2218 B.C.E.)".
[1]
"The effective range of the simple bow varied from 50 to 100 yards. And the arrow shot by a simple bow was unable to penetrate leather or bronze armour. The effective range of the composite bows varied between 250 and 300 yards."
[2]
However, the composite bow itself could not penetrate armour more than 2mm thick [all designs or just the early designs?] and was susceptible to rotting in high-moisture environments.
[1]
"The composite bow was a recurve bow made of wood, horn and tendons from oxen, carefully laminated together. These bows were probably invented by the nomads of the Eurasian steppe and brought into Sumer by the mercenary nomads."
[2]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[3]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[2]
[1]: (Gabriel 2002, 28) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [2]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. [3]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. |
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"The later third-millennium development of the composite bow revolutionized warfare."
[1]
[1]: (McIntosh 2005: 188) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KK2E3KMD. |
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Archers.
[1]
Islamic armies of the period used a lot of horse archers, as well as cavalry with lance and sword.
[2]
[1]: (Quiring-Zoche 2011) Quiring-Zoche, R. 2011. Aq Qoyunlu. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/aq-qoyunlu-confederation [2]: (Jones ed. 2012, 92-93) Gareth Jones. ed. The Military History Book: The Ultimate Visual Guide to the Weapons that Shaped the World. Dorling Kindersley Limited. London. |
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Recurved bows are depicted in seals, showing arrows being fired at humans in warfare.
[1]
"The first evidence of the composite bow appears on the victory stele of Naram Sin (2254-2218 B.C.E.)".
[2]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[3]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 75) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 28) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. |
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Under the Abbasids, ’Arab’ and Persian’ bows mentioned in sources, both composite bows.
[1]
The Turks provided mounted archers to the Buyid army.
[2]
[1]: (Kennedy 2001, 177-178) Kennedy, Hugh N. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the early Islamic State. Vol. 352. Routledge. [2]: Busse, H. 1975. Iran under the Būyids. In Frye, R. N. (ed.) The Cambridge History of Iran. Volume 4. The period from the Arab Invasion to the Saljuq’s. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p.251 |
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"The effective range of the simple bow varied from 50 to 100 yards. And the arrow shot by a simple bow was unable to penetrate leather or bronze armour. The effective range of the composite bows varied between 250 and 300 yards."
[1]
However, the composite bow itself could not penetrate armour more than 2mm thick [all designs or just the early designs?] and was susceptible to rotting in high-moisture environments.
[2]
"The composite bow was a recurve bow made of wood, horn and tendons from oxen, carefully laminated together. These bows were probably invented by the nomads of the Eurasian steppe and brought into Sumer by the mercenary nomads."
[1]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[3]
In his discussion of weapons used by the Achaemenid army Gabriel (2002) mentions the "noncomposite" simple bow directly for light cavalry and chariots and the ’bow’ for light infantry and heavy infantry and notably does not mention use of the composite bow by Persian forces.
[4]
Earlier Gabriel mentions the composite bow was used from the late third millennium BCE but that it was difficult to manufacture and it was "very susceptible to moisture, which rendered it useless."
[2]
This suggests the simple bow was most likely the standard weapon. Hypothesis: nomads who were full-time warriors were able maintain their composite bows every day. Agricultural polities who did not wanted to store the weapons. This may have meant they probably relied most on their stocks of easy to preserve simple bows, even though arrows shot from them carried less range.
[1]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 28) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [4]: (Gabriel 2002, 162-164) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[1]
Used by the Greeks and Romans who didn’t place much emphasis on the bow as a weapon preferring instead infantry combat.
[2]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 29) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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Arrowheads have been found, but is unlikely to be a more sophisticated bow at this time. "Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[1]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. |
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Arrowheads have been found, but is unlikely to be a more sophisticated bow at this time. "Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[1]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. |
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Arrowheads have been found, but is unlikely to be a more sophisticated bow at this time. "Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[1]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. |
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Composite bow of Central Asian design, made out of horn, wood and sinew. Had a range of 175 meters, accurate within 50-60 meters.
[1]
"During the reign of the first King Khosrow, or Chosroes (531-79), a cavalryman’s equipment consisted of ... a quiver with thirty arrows, two reflex bows, and two replacement strings."
[2]
at the muster parades of Khusrau I (second Sassanid period) cavalry units required to have "mail, breastplate, helmet, leg guards, arm guards, horse armour, lance, buckler, sword, mace, battle axe, quiver of thirty arrows, bow case with two bows, and two spare bow strings."
[3]
[1]: (Farrokh 2005, 3-27) Farrokh, Kevah. 2005. Sassanian Elite Cavalry AD 224-642. Osprey Publishing. [2]: (Mitterauer 2010, 106) Mitterauer, M. 2010. Why Europe?: The Medieval Origins of Its Special Path. University of Chicago Press. [3]: (Chegini 1996, 58) Chegini, N. N. Political History, Economy and Society. in Litvinsky, B. A. ed. and Iskender-Mochiri, I. ed. 1996. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume III. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. pp.40-58. unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001046/104612e.pdf |
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"The effective range of the simple bow varied from 50 to 100 yards. And the arrow shot by a simple bow was unable to penetrate leather or bronze armour. The effective range of the composite bows varied between 250 and 300 yards."
[1]
However, the composite bow itself could not penetrate armour more than 2mm thick [all designs or just the early designs?] and was susceptible to rotting in high-moisture environments.
[2]
"The composite bow was a recurve bow made of wood, horn and tendons from oxen, carefully laminated together. These bows were probably invented by the nomads of the Eurasian steppe and brought into Sumer by the mercenary nomads."
[1]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[3]
In his discussion of weapons used by the Achaemenid army Gabriel (2002) mentions the "noncomposite" simple bow directly for light cavalry and chariots and the ’bow’ for light infantry and heavy infantry and notably does not mention use of the composite bow by Persian forces.
[4]
Earlier Gabriel mentions the composite bow was used from the late third millennium BCE but that it was difficult to manufacture and it was "very susceptible to moisture, which rendered it useless."
[2]
This suggests the simple bow was most likely the standard weapon. Hypothesis: nomads who were full-time warriors were able maintain their composite bows every day. Agricultural polities who did not wanted to store the weapons. This may have meant they probably relied most on their stocks of easy to preserve simple bows, even though arrows shot from them carried less range.
[1]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 28) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [4]: (Gabriel 2002, 162-164) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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|
"The effective range of the simple bow varied from 50 to 100 yards. And the arrow shot by a simple bow was unable to penetrate leather or bronze armour. The effective range of the composite bows varied between 250 and 300 yards."
[1]
However, the composite bow itself could not penetrate armour more than 2mm thick [all designs or just the early designs?] and was susceptible to rotting in high-moisture environments.
[2]
"The composite bow was a recurve bow made of wood, horn and tendons from oxen, carefully laminated together. These bows were probably invented by the nomads of the Eurasian steppe and brought into Sumer by the mercenary nomads."
[1]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[3]
In his discussion of weapons used by the Achaemenid army Gabriel (2002) mentions the "noncomposite" simple bow directly for light cavalry and chariots and the ’bow’ for light infantry and heavy infantry and notably does not mention use of the composite bow by Persian forces.
[4]
Earlier Gabriel mentions the composite bow was used from the late third millennium BCE but that it was difficult to manufacture and it was "very susceptible to moisture, which rendered it useless."
[2]
This suggests the simple bow was most likely the standard weapon. Hypothesis: nomads who were full-time warriors were able maintain their composite bows every day. Agricultural polities who did not wanted to store the weapons. This may have meant they probably relied most on their stocks of easy to preserve simple bows, even though arrows shot from them carried less range.
[1]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 28) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [4]: (Gabriel 2002, 162-164) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
|
"The effective range of the simple bow varied from 50 to 100 yards. And the arrow shot by a simple bow was unable to penetrate leather or bronze armour. The effective range of the composite bows varied between 250 and 300 yards."
[1]
However, the composite bow itself could not penetrate armour more than 2mm thick [all designs or just the early designs?] and was susceptible to rotting in high-moisture environments.
[2]
"The composite bow was a recurve bow made of wood, horn and tendons from oxen, carefully laminated together. These bows were probably invented by the nomads of the Eurasian steppe and brought into Sumer by the mercenary nomads."
[1]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[3]
In his discussion of weapons used by the Achaemenid army Gabriel (2002) mentions the "noncomposite" simple bow directly for light cavalry and chariots and the ’bow’ for light infantry and heavy infantry and notably does not mention use of the composite bow by Persian forces.
[4]
Earlier Gabriel mentions the composite bow was used from the late third millennium BCE but that it was difficult to manufacture and it was "very susceptible to moisture, which rendered it useless."
[2]
This suggests the simple bow was most likely the standard weapon. Hypothesis: nomads who were full-time warriors were able maintain their composite bows every day. Agricultural polities who did not wanted to store the weapons. This may have meant they probably relied most on their stocks of easy to preserve simple bows, even though arrows shot from them carried less range.
[1]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 28) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [4]: (Gabriel 2002, 162-164) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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|
"The effective range of the simple bow varied from 50 to 100 yards. And the arrow shot by a simple bow was unable to penetrate leather or bronze armour. The effective range of the composite bows varied between 250 and 300 yards."
[1]
However, the composite bow itself could not penetrate armour more than 2mm thick [all designs or just the early designs?] and was susceptible to rotting in high-moisture environments.
[2]
"The composite bow was a recurve bow made of wood, horn and tendons from oxen, carefully laminated together. These bows were probably invented by the nomads of the Eurasian steppe and brought into Sumer by the mercenary nomads."
[1]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[3]
Elam: ‘the iconographic emergence of a distinctive equestrian art characterized by a rider on a leaping horse in the act of firing an arrow or throwing a spear at a rearing animal or human.’
[4]
In his discussion of weapons used by the Achaemenid army Gabriel (2002) mentions the "noncomposite" simple bow directly for light cavalry and chariots and the ’bow’ for light infantry and heavy infantry and notably does not mention use of the composite bow by Persian forces.
[5]
Earlier Gabriel mentions the composite bow was used from the late third millennium BCE but that it was difficult to manufacture and it was "very susceptible to moisture, which rendered it useless."
[2]
[1]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 28) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [4]: Javier Alvarez-Mon, ‘Elam in the Iron Age’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 465 [5]: (Gabriel 2002, 162-164) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[1]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. |
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Present in earlier periods.
[1]
RA couldn’t find relevant information, but don’t appear in book on warfare
[2]
. Expert advice is needed.
[1]: (James 2018: 9) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HDQVHM42. [2]: (Fields 2011) |
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"The effective range of the simple bow varied from 50 to 100 yards. And the arrow shot by a simple bow was unable to penetrate leather or bronze armour. The effective range of the composite bows varied between 250 and 300 yards."
[1]
However, the composite bow itself could not penetrate armour more than 2mm thick [all designs or just the early designs?] and was susceptible to rotting in high-moisture environments.
[2]
"The composite bow was a recurve bow made of wood, horn and tendons from oxen, carefully laminated together. These bows were probably invented by the nomads of the Eurasian steppe and brought into Sumer by the mercenary nomads."
[1]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[3]
In his discussion of weapons used by the Achaemenid army Gabriel (2002) mentions the "noncomposite" simple bow directly for light cavalry and chariots and the ’bow’ for light infantry and heavy infantry and notably does not mention use of the composite bow by Persian forces.
[4]
Earlier Gabriel mentions the composite bow was used from the late third millennium BCE but that it was difficult to manufacture and it was "very susceptible to moisture, which rendered it useless."
[2]
This suggests the simple bow was most likely the standard weapon. Hypothesis: nomads who were full-time warriors were able maintain their composite bows every day. Agricultural polities who did not wanted to store the weapons. This may have meant they probably relied most on their stocks of easy to preserve simple bows, even though arrows shot from them carried less range.
[1]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 28) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [4]: (Gabriel 2002, 162-164) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
|
"The effective range of the simple bow varied from 50 to 100 yards. And the arrow shot by a simple bow was unable to penetrate leather or bronze armour. The effective range of the composite bows varied between 250 and 300 yards."
[1]
However, the composite bow itself could not penetrate armour more than 2mm thick [all designs or just the early designs?] and was susceptible to rotting in high-moisture environments.
[2]
"The composite bow was a recurve bow made of wood, horn and tendons from oxen, carefully laminated together. These bows were probably invented by the nomads of the Eurasian steppe and brought into Sumer by the mercenary nomads."
[1]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[3]
Elam: ‘the iconographic emergence of a distinctive equestrian art characterized by a rider on a leaping horse in the act of firing an arrow or throwing a spear at a rearing animal or human.’
[4]
In his discussion of weapons used by the Achaemenid army Gabriel (2002) mentions the "noncomposite" simple bow directly for light cavalry and chariots and the ’bow’ for light infantry and heavy infantry and notably does not mention use of the composite bow by Persian forces.
[5]
Earlier Gabriel mentions the composite bow was used from the late third millennium BCE but that it was difficult to manufacture and it was "very susceptible to moisture, which rendered it useless."
[2]
This suggests the simple bow was most likely the standard weapon. Hypothesis: nomads who were full-time warriors were able maintain their composite bows every day. Agricultural polities who did not wanted to store the weapons. This may have meant they probably relied most on their stocks of easy to preserve simple bows, even though arrows shot from them carried less range.
[1]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 28) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [4]: Javier Alvarez-Mon, ‘Elam in the Iron Age’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 465 [5]: (Gabriel 2002, 162-164) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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|
"The effective range of the simple bow varied from 50 to 100 yards. And the arrow shot by a simple bow was unable to penetrate leather or bronze armour. The effective range of the composite bows varied between 250 and 300 yards."
[1]
However, the composite bow itself could not penetrate armour more than 2mm thick [all designs or just the early designs?] and was susceptible to rotting in high-moisture environments.
[2]
"The composite bow was a recurve bow made of wood, horn and tendons from oxen, carefully laminated together. These bows were probably invented by the nomads of the Eurasian steppe and brought into Sumer by the mercenary nomads."
[1]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[3]
Elam: ‘the iconographic emergence of a distinctive equestrian art characterized by a rider on a leaping horse in the act of firing an arrow or throwing a spear at a rearing animal or human.’
[4]
In his discussion of weapons used by the Achaemenid army Gabriel (2002) mentions the "noncomposite" simple bow directly for light cavalry and chariots and the ’bow’ for light infantry and heavy infantry and notably does not mention use of the composite bow by Persian forces.
[5]
Earlier Gabriel mentions the composite bow was used from the late third millennium BCE but that it was difficult to manufacture and it was "very susceptible to moisture, which rendered it useless."
[2]
This suggests the simple bow was most likely the standard weapon. Hypothesis: nomads who were full-time warriors were able maintain their composite bows every day. Agricultural polities who did not wanted to store the weapons. This may have meant they probably relied most on their stocks of easy to preserve simple bows, even though arrows shot from them carried less range.
[1]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 28) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [4]: Javier Alvarez-Mon, ‘Elam in the Iron Age’, In Daniel T. Potts (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, 2013, p. 465 [5]: (Gabriel 2002, 162-164) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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|
Light cavalry used compound bow.
[1]
"Monument D at Tang-i Sarvak shows a mounted soldier in scale armour on a horse protected by similar armour and armed with a long lance and bow."
[2]
"The mass of lesser nobles and their retainers were traditional horse archers, mounted on tough steppe ponies and armed with the reflex bow."
[3]
[1]: Wiesehöfer, Josef, Ancient Persia: From 550 BC to 650 AD, trans. by Azizeh Azodi (London ; New York: I.B. Tauris, 1996), p.148. [2]: (Raschke 1976, 821) Raschke, Manfred G. in Haase, Wolfgang ed. 1976. Politische Geschichte (Provinzen und Randvölker: Mesopotamien, Armenien, Iran, Südarabien, Rom und der Ferne Osten). Walter de Gruyter. [3]: (Penrose 2008, 221) Penrose, Jane. 2008. Rome and Her Enemies: An Empire Created and Destroyed by War. Osprey Publishing. |
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|
Light cavalry used compound bow.
[1]
"Monument D at Tang-i Sarvak shows a mounted soldier in scale armour on a horse protected by similar armour and armed with a long lance and bow."
[2]
"The mass of lesser nobles and their retainers were traditional horse archers, mounted on tough steppe ponies and armed with the reflex bow."
[3]
[1]: Wiesehöfer, Josef, Ancient Persia: From 550 BC to 650 AD, trans. by Azizeh Azodi (London ; New York: I.B. Tauris, 1996), p.148. [2]: (Raschke 1976, 821) Raschke, Manfred G. in Haase, Wolfgang ed. 1976. Politische Geschichte (Provinzen und Randvölker: Mesopotamien, Armenien, Iran, Südarabien, Rom und der Ferne Osten). Walter de Gruyter. [3]: (Penrose 2008, 221) Penrose, Jane. 2008. Rome and Her Enemies: An Empire Created and Destroyed by War. Osprey Publishing. |
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Composite bow of Central Asian design, made out of horn, wood and sinew. Had a range of 175 meters, accurate within 50-60 meters.
[1]
at the muster parades of Khusrau I (second Sassanid period) cavalry units required to have "mail, breastplate, helmet, leg guards, arm guards, horse armour, lance, buckler, sword, mace, battle axe, quiver of thirty arrows, bow case with two bows, and two spare bow strings."
[2]
[1]: (Farrokh 2005, 3-27) Farrokh, Kevah. 2005. Sassanian Elite Cavalry AD 224-642. Osprey Publishing. [2]: (Chegini 1996, 58) Chegini, N. N. Political History, Economy and Society. in Litvinsky, B. A. ed. and Iskender-Mochiri, I. ed. 1996. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume III. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. pp.40-58. unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001046/104612e.pdf |
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|
Composite bow already an important weapon of the pre-Roman Iron Age.
[1]
[1]: (James 2018: 9) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/HDQVHM42. |
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The samurai was armed with "a longbow, shot from one-third of the way up its length" however this period saw the transition to mounted spearman so bow use primarily by "mobile sharpshooters"
[1]
"Foot soldiers were armed with either arquebuses, spears or bows, and all also carried a sword."
[1]
Archers known as yumigumi.
[2]
[1]: (Turnbull 2002) [2]: (Turnbull 2008) |
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|
"The effective range of the simple bow varied from 50 to 100 yards. And the arrow shot by a simple bow was unable to penetrate leather or bronze armour. The effective range of the composite bows varied between 250 and 300 yards."
[1]
However, the composite bow itself could not penetrate armour more than 2mm thick [all designs or just the early designs?] and was susceptible to rotting in high-moisture environments.
[2]
"The composite bow was a recurve bow made of wood, horn and tendons from oxen, carefully laminated together. These bows were probably invented by the nomads of the Eurasian steppe and brought into Sumer by the mercenary nomads."
[1]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[3]
In his discussion of weapons used by the Achaemenid army Gabriel (2002) mentions the "noncomposite" simple bow directly for light cavalry and chariots and the ’bow’ for light infantry and heavy infantry and notably does not mention use of the composite bow by Persian forces.
[4]
Earlier Gabriel mentions the composite bow was used from the late third millennium BCE but that it was difficult to manufacture and it was "very susceptible to moisture, which rendered it useless."
[2]
This suggests the simple bow was most likely the standard weapon. Hypothesis: nomads who were full-time warriors were able maintain their composite bows every day. Agricultural polities who did not wanted to store the weapons. This may have meant they probably relied most on their stocks of easy to preserve simple bows, even though arrows shot from them carried less range.
[1]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 28) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [4]: (Gabriel 2002, 162-164) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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|
"The effective range of the simple bow varied from 50 to 100 yards. And the arrow shot by a simple bow was unable to penetrate leather or bronze armour. The effective range of the composite bows varied between 250 and 300 yards."
[1]
However, the composite bow itself could not penetrate armour more than 2mm thick [all designs or just the early designs?] and was susceptible to rotting in high-moisture environments.
[2]
"The composite bow was a recurve bow made of wood, horn and tendons from oxen, carefully laminated together. These bows were probably invented by the nomads of the Eurasian steppe and brought into Sumer by the mercenary nomads."
[1]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[3]
In his discussion of weapons used by the Achaemenid army Gabriel (2002) mentions the "noncomposite" simple bow directly for light cavalry and chariots and the ’bow’ for light infantry and heavy infantry and notably does not mention use of the composite bow by Persian forces.
[4]
Earlier Gabriel mentions the composite bow was used from the late third millennium BCE but that it was difficult to manufacture and it was "very susceptible to moisture, which rendered it useless."
[2]
This suggests the simple bow was most likely the standard weapon. Hypothesis: nomads who were full-time warriors were able maintain their composite bows every day. Agricultural polities who did not wanted to store the weapons. This may have meant they probably relied most on their stocks of easy to preserve simple bows, even though arrows shot from them carried less range.
[1]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 28) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [4]: (Gabriel 2002, 162-164) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
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|
Recurved bows are depicted in seals, showing arrows being fired at humans in warfare.
[1]
According to a military historian (a polity specialist needs to check this data): "The first evidence of the composite bow appears on the victory stele of Naram Sin (2254-2218 B.C.E.)".
[2]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[3]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 75) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 28) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. |
||||||
|
Recurved bows are depicted in seals, showing arrows being fired at humans in warfare.
[1]
According to a military historian (a polity specialist needs to check this data): "The first evidence of the composite bow appears on the victory stele of Naram Sin (2254-2218 B.C.E.)".
[2]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[3]
[1]: (Leverani 2014, 75) Liverani, Mario. Tabatabai, Soraia trans. 2014. The Ancient Near East. History, society and economy. Routledge. London. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 28) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. [3]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. |
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[This link (EXTERNAL_INLINE_LINK: http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/manufacturing/text/viking_bow.htm ) claims that self bow (longbows) were common among Vikings but composite bows may also have been present. Sources usually do not make clear whether bows were self or composite bows. We think the self bow was present and the composite bow probably also although neither was common.]
|
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‘From the Kamakura period, bows were constructed in layers utilizing bamboo slats for added strength and flexibility. The core of the bow was made of stiff wood and was combined with laminated pieces of bamboo. After the 15th century, the sides of the bow were laminated with bamboo slats, and the wooden core of the bow was thus completely encased in bamboo. For added strength, cane was wound around the stave of the bow. While in theory the cane bow was finished with lacquer for additional protection, this was not always the case in practice.’
[1]
"Japanese bows began as simple wooden staves and gradually gained laminates of bamboo first on the outside face, then the inside face (early thirteenth century), then on the two sides (fifteenth century)."
[2]
"The bow remained the primary combat weapon until the arquebus replaced it in the sixteenth century."
[2]
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.153-54. [2]: (Lorge 2011, 48) |
||||||
|
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[1]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. |
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|
"Compound or composite bows of the sort favored on the Asian continent - made by laminating together layers of wood, animal tendon and horn - were known in Japan by the late ninth century, but never widely adopted. Instead, without ready access to supplies of bone and horn, the Japanese fashioned their bows from wood or from laminates of wood and bamboo. The earliest designs were of plain wood ... "
[1]
"These first compound bows, called fusetake yumi, featured a single strip of bamboo laminated to the outside face of the wood, using a paster (called nibe) made from fish bladders. Sometime around the turn of the thirteenth century, a second bamboo laminate was added to the inside face of the bow, to create the sammai uchi yumi. In the fifteenth century, two additional bamboo slats were addeded to the sides, so that the wooden core was now completely encased, producing the shiochiku yumi. The higo yumi used for traditional Japanese archery today appeared sometime during the seventeenth century."
[2]
[1]: (Friday 2004, 68) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York. [2]: (Friday 2004, 69) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York. |
||||||
|
‘From the Kamakura period, bows were constructed in layers utilizing bamboo slats for added strength and flexibility. The core of the bow was made of stiff wood and was combined with laminated pieces of bamboo. After the 15th century, the sides of the bow were laminated with bamboo slats, and the wooden core of the bow was thus completely encased in bamboo. For added strength, cane was wound around the stave of the bow. While in theory the cane bow was finished with lacquer for additional protection, this was not always the case in practice.’
[1]
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.153-54. |
||||||
|
"Compound or composite bows of the sort favored on the Asian continent - made by laminating together layers of wood, animal tendon and horn - were known in Japan by the late ninth century, but never widely adopted. Instead, without ready access to supplies of bone and horn, the Japanese fashioned their bows from wood or from laminates of wood and bamboo. The earliest designs were of plain wood ... "
[1]
"These first compound bows, called fusetake yumi, featured a single strip of bamboo laminated to the outside face of the wood, using a paster (called nibe) made from fish bladders. Sometime around the turn of the thirteenth century, a second bamboo laminate was added to the inside face of the bow, to create the sammai uchi yumi. In the fifteenth century, two additional bamboo slats were addeded to the sides, so that the wooden core was now completely encased, producing the shiochiku yumi. The higo yumi used for traditional Japanese archery today appeared sometime during the seventeenth century."
[2]
’The Heian warrior was... primarily a mounted archer who wielded the dagger and sword when his supply of arrows was gone and fighting had become hand-to-hand.’
[3]
"Japanese bows began as simple wooden staves and gradually gained laminates of bamboo first on the outside face, then the inside face (early thirteenth century), then on the two sides (fifteenth century)."
[4]
"The bow remained the primary combat weapon until the arquebus replaced it in the sixteenth century."
[4]
[1]: (Friday 2004, 68) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York. [2]: (Friday 2004, 69) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York. [3]: Shively, Donald H. and McCullough, William H. 2008. The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 2: Heian Japan. Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press.p.645 [4]: (Lorge 2011, 48) |
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
|
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No archaeological evidence for this. Moreover, the scholarly consensus is that the Jomon were relatively peaceful.
|
||||||
|
‘From the Kamakura period, bows were constructed in layers utilizing bamboo slats for added strength and flexibility. The core of the bow was made of stiff wood and was combined with laminated pieces of bamboo.’
[1]
"Japanese bows began as simple wooden staves and gradually gained laminates of bamboo first on the outside face, then the inside face (early thirteenth century), then on the two sides (fifteenth century)."
[2]
"The bow remained the primary combat weapon until the arquebus replaced it in the sixteenth century."
[2]
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.153-54. [2]: (Lorge 2011, 48) |
||||||
|
"Compound or composite bows of the sort favored on the Asian continent - made by laminating together layers of wood, animal tendon and horn - were known in Japan by the late ninth century, but never widely adopted. Instead, without ready access to supplies of bone and horn, the Japanese fashioned their bows from wood or from laminates of wood and bamboo. The earliest designs were of plain wood ... "
[1]
"These first compound bows, called fusetake yumi, featured a single strip of bamboo laminated to the outside face of the wood, using a paster (called nibe) made from fish bladders. Sometime around the turn of the thirteenth century, a second bamboo laminate was added to the inside face of the bow, to create the sammai uchi yumi. In the fifteenth century, two additional bamboo slats were addeded to the sides, so that the wooden core was now completely encased, producing the shiochiku yumi. The higo yumi used for traditional Japanese archery today appeared sometime during the seventeenth century."
[2]
[1]: (Friday 2004, 68) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York. [2]: (Friday 2004, 69) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York. |
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|
the composite bow had been standard military equipment since the 9th century CE but was most likely used before then. From the Kamakura period, bows were constructed in layers utilizing bamboo slats for added strength and flexibility. The core of the bow was made of stiff wood and was combined with laminated pieces of bamboo.’
[1]
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.153-54. |
||||||
|
‘From the Kamakura period, bows were constructed in layers utilizing bamboo slats for added strength and flexibility. The core of the bow was made of stiff wood and was combined with laminated pieces of bamboo. After the 15th century, the sides of the bow were laminated with bamboo slats, and the wooden core of the bow was thus completely encased in bamboo. For added strength, cane was wound around the stave of the bow. While in theory the cane bow was finished with lacquer for additional protection, this was not always the case in practice.’
[1]
"Japanese bows began as simple wooden staves and gradually gained laminates of bamboo first on the outside face, then the inside face (early thirteenth century), then on the two sides (fifteenth century)."
[2]
"The bow remained the primary combat weapon until the arquebus replaced it in the sixteenth century."
[2]
[1]: Deal, William E. 2005. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Oxford University Press.p.153-54. [2]: (Lorge 2011, 48) |
||||||
|
"Compound or composite bows of the sort favored on the Asian continent - made by laminating together layers of wood, animal tendon and horn - were known in Japan by the late ninth century, but never widely adopted. Instead, without ready access to supplies of bone and horn, the Japanese fashioned their bows from wood or from laminates of wood and bamboo. The earliest designs were of plain wood ... "
[1]
"These first compound bows, called fusetake yumi, featured a single strip of bamboo laminated to the outside face of the wood, using a paster (called nibe) made from fish bladders. Sometime around the turn of the thirteenth century, a second bamboo laminate was added to the inside face of the bow, to create the sammai uchi yumi. In the fifteenth century, two additional bamboo slats were addeded to the sides, so that the wooden core was now completely encased, producing the shiochiku yumi. The higo yumi used for traditional Japanese archery today appeared sometime during the seventeenth century."
[2]
[1]: (Friday 2004, 68) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York. [2]: (Friday 2004, 69) Karl F Friday. 2005. Samurai, Warfare and the State in Early Medieval Japan. Routledge. New York. |
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|
Jacq-Hergoualc’h’s in-depth and authoritative analysis of Khmer weaponry includes no mention of compound bows. ’They hold their bows almost vertically, left arm taut, the thumb on the inside of the flexed bow, the end of the arrow being upheld by the hand, with the right hand drawing back the bowstring as far as the chin, and holding the base of the arrow.’
[1]
[1]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, p. 22) |
||||||
|
Jacq-Hergoualc’h’s in-depth and authoritative analysis of Khmer weaponry includes no mention of compound bows. ’They hold their bows almost vertically, left arm taut, the thumb on the inside of the flexed bow, the end of the arrow being upheld by the hand, with the right hand drawing back the bowstring as far as the chin, and holding the base of the arrow.’
[1]
[1]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, p. 22) |
||||||
|
Jacq-Hergoualc’h’s in-depth and authoritative analysis of Khmer weaponry includes no mention of compound bows. ’They hold their bows almost vertically, left arm taut, the thumb on the inside of the flexed bow, the end of the arrow being upheld by the hand, with the right hand drawing back the bowstring as far as the chin, and holding the base of the arrow.’
[1]
[1]: (Jacq-Hergoualc’h and Smithies 2007, p. 22) |
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|
Inferred from the absence of composite bows in the subsequent polities, and not specifically mentioned in the sources.
|
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Inferred from the absence of composite bows in the subsequent polities, and not specifically mentioned in the sources.
|
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|
"In 1879, M. Moura obtained bronze artifacts from villagers at Samrong Sen in Cambodia, including an axe, fishhooks, arrowheads, and bangles" from the Bronze Age.
[1]
These arrowheads may have been from a bow and arrow, however the dates and details were not confirmed.
[1]: (Miksic and Goh 2016: 106) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/2EZ3CBBS. |
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|
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[1]
Judging from contemporary texts from Mesopotamia and also Vedic sources chariot warriors typically required the bow and arrow.
[2]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [2]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 136) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden. |
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"Le antiche figurazioni e i reperti archaeologici suggeriscono inoltre la presenza di soldati di fanteria dotati di lance, pugnali, asce e mazze, ma scarsamente protetti da armi difensive, quali elmi, corazze e scudi, che compaiono raramente nei repertori figurati; risulta, infine, la presenza di corpi di arcieri."
[1]
TRANSLATION: "Ancient iconography and archaeological findings suggest that the infantry was armed with spears, daggers, axes, and clubs, but was only rarely clad in defensive gear such as helmets, armour and shields; finally, armies also included archers’ corps." Composite bows had been in use in the region since the Bronze Age: "According to R. Gabriel, composite bows first appeared in the victory stele of Naram Sin (2254 BCE-2218 BCE), the grandson of Sargon the Great. The composite bow outranged the single and compound bows and produced greater power from a shorter draw. The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE. The Egyptians put archers equipped with composite bows on their chariots. The effective range of the simple bow varied from 50 to 100 yards. And the arrow shot by a simple bow was unable to penetrate leather or bronze armour. The effective range of the composite bows varied between 250 and 300 yards. The composite bow was a recurve bow made of wood, horn and tendons from oxen, carefully laminated together. These bows were probably invented by the nomads of the Eurasian steppe and brought into Sumer by the mercenary nomads."
[2]
[1]: Bartoloni, P. 1988. L’esercito, la marina e la guerra. In Moscati, S. (ed) I Fenici pp. 132-138. Milano: Bompiani. [2]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. |
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Reference for pre-colonial West Africa: "conventional weapons (as opposed to firearms) continued to play an effective role in West African warfare until as late as the middle of the last century." (i.e. 19th century).
[1]
"In warfare bows and other missiles were mainly infantry weapons, as in Europe and the Middle East, but some cavalry - for example, that of the Oyo and of the nineteenth-century Adamawa - seem to have used bows, presumably shorter and more compact than those used by the infantry. Barth mentions seeing (to his surprise) a Borno archer on horseback, and both Benin and Yoruba sculpture show mounted archers."
[2]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 80) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison. [2]: (Smith 1989, 70) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison. |
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|
Were any of the bows used composite bows or were they all self-bows? Reference for pre-colonial West Africa: "conventional weapons (as opposed to firearms) continued to play an effective role in West African warfare until as late as the middle of the last century." (i.e. 19th century).
[1]
"In warfare bows and other missiles were mainly infantry weapons, as in Europe and the Middle East, but some cavalry - for example, that of the Oyo and of the nineteenth-century Adamawa - seem to have used bows, presumably shorter and more compact than those used by the infantry. Barth mentions seeing (to his surprise) a Borno archer on horseback, and both Benin and Yoruba sculpture show mounted archers."
[2]
[1]: (Smith 1989, 80) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison. [2]: (Smith 1989, 70) Robert Sydney Smith. 1989. Warfare & Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa. Second Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison. |
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|
"It is no wonder that the skill required to produce steel swords over charcoal fires seemed supernatural. The same could be said for bow makers, who required great time and expertise to make the composite bows, which still set distance records exceeding those of European-style longbows “by humiliating margins.”
[1]
[1]: (Findley 2005, 45) |
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|
"The Khitan, Jurchen and Mongolian peoples excelled in horseback archery".
[1]
"The first composite bow with bone reinforced ’ears’, a major development, may have been used around Lake Baikal, c.500 BC. Despite many individual external differences, across the steppe, and across time, the composite bow would remain essentially uniform in construction method."
[2]
"Khitan tombs also commonly contain ... arrowheads of various types."
[3]
[1]: (Huang and Hong 2018) Fuhua Huang. Fan Hong. 2018. A History of Chinese Martial Arts. Routledge. Abingdon. [2]: (Karasulas 2004, 19) [3]: (Tackett 2017, 216) Nicolas Tackett. 2017. The Origins of the Chinese Nation: Song China and the Forging of an East Asian World Order. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
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|
"The first composite bow with bone reinforced ’ears’, a major development, may have been used around Lake Baikal, c.500 BC. Despite many individual external differences, across the steppe, and across time, the composite bow would remain essentially uniform in construction method."
[1]
[1]: (Karasulas 2004, 19) |
||||||
|
"The first composite bow with bone reinforced ’ears’, a major development, may have been used around Lake Baikal, c.500 BC. Despite many individual external differences, across the steppe, and across time, the composite bow would remain essentially uniform in construction method."
[1]
[1]: (Karasulas 2004, 19) |
||||||
|
"It is no wonder that the skill required to produce steel swords over charcoal fires seemed supernatural. The same could be said for bow makers, who required great time and expertise to make the composite bows, which still set distance records exceeding those of European-style longbows “by humiliating margins.”83"
[1]
[1]: (Findley 2005, 45) |
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|
"Wild birds and beasts not to be found in the Middle Kingdom of China lived in the territories of the Hsien-pi, who made bows out of horns."
[1]
"Among their weapons we find the compound bow, bronze and bone arrowheads (their arrows also contained beads that gave them a whistling effect), broadswords, short swords, lances, and maces."
[2]
[1]: (Kyzlasov 1996, 313) [2]: (Golden 1992, 60) |
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|
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[1]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[2]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [2]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. |
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|
"The first composite bow with bone reinforced ’ears’, a major development, may have been used around Lake Baikal, c.500 BC. Despite many individual external differences, across the steppe, and across time, the composite bow would remain essentially uniform in construction method."
[1]
and still used by the Qing: "Under the QING DYNASTY (1636-1912) training in archery was required of all bannermen. The military com- pound bow used was only about 1 1/4 meters (four feet) long, although ones more than two meters (six feet) long were also used for hunting."
[2]
[1]: (Karasulas 2004, 19) [2]: (Atwood 2004, 20) |
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|
Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include bows of any kind. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias. Moreover, Spanish documents record the use of bows and arrows at the end of the Monte Alban V period.
[2]
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. [2]: Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People. New York. p217-8 |
||||||
|
Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include bows of any kind. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias. Moreover, Spanish documents record the use of bows and arrows at the end of the Monte Alban V period.
[2]
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. [2]: Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People. New York. p217-8 |
||||||
|
Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include bows of any kind. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias. Moreover, Spanish documents record the use of bows and arrows at the end of the Monte Alban V period.
[2]
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. [2]: Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People. New York. p217-8 |
||||||
|
Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include bows of any kind. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias. Moreover, Spanish documents record the use of bows and arrows at the end of the Monte Alban V period.
[2]
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. [2]: Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People. New York. p217-8 |
||||||
|
Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include bows of any kind. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias. Moreover, Spanish documents record the use of bows and arrows at the end of the Monte Alban V period.
[2]
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. [2]: Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People. New York. p217-8 |
||||||
|
"Little is known about warfare in Mesoamerica before the Middle Formative [...] warfare was relatively unorganized, conducted by small groups armed with unspecialized tool-weapons".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 12-13) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
||||||
|
There was no significant change in arms compared to the Classic period—thrusting spears and atlatls continued to dominate.
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 82) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
||||||
|
"There is no substantial evidence of bows and arrows at this time [Middle and Late Formative]".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 197) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
||||||
|
"There is no substantial evidence of bows and arrows at this time [Middle and Late Formative]".
[1]
First introduced into Central Mexico during the Middle Postclassic by Chichimec invaders from Northern Mesoamerica.
[2]
[3]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 197) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. [2]: Hassig, Ross. (1992). "War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica." Berkeley: University of California Press, p.47, 119-20. [3]: Tolstoy, Paul (1971). "Utilitarian Artifacts of Central Mexico." In The Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 10, ed. G. F. Ekholm, and I. Bernal. Austin: University of Texas Press, 270-296. |
||||||
|
"Little is known about warfare in Mesoamerica before the Middle Formative [...] warfare was relatively unorganized, conducted by small groups armed with unspecialized tool-weapons".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 12-13) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
||||||
|
"Most of the basic Mesoamerican armaments were in existence at this time [Classic period] - atlatls, darts, and spears, we well as clubs (bladed and unbladed), shields, cotton body armor, and unit standards [...] This military organization and technology was carried forward and elaborated on first by Toltecs and then by Aztecs".
[1]
[1]: (Hassig 1992: 5) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/E9VHCKDG. |
||||||
|
Sources
[1]
only mention very little archaeological evidence for weaponry for this period, and this does not include bows of any kind. However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so their absence in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias. Moreover, Spanish documents record the use of bows and arrows at the end of the Monte Alban V period.
[2]
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. [2]: Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People. New York. p217-8 |
||||||
|
Relative to this period, sources only mention the atlatl and spears.
[1]
However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so the absence of weapons other than the atlatl and spears in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias. It is also worth noting that Spanish documents record the use of bows and arrows at the end of the Monte Alban V period.
[2]
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. [2]: Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People. New York. p217-8 |
||||||
|
Relative to this period, sources only mention the atlatl and spears.
[1]
However, weapons made from wood and cloth have been documented for the later periods, so the absence of weapons other than the atlatl and spears in the archaeological record may be due to preservation bias. It is also worth noting that Spanish documents record the use of bows and arrows at the end of the Monte Alban V period.
[2]
[1]: Marcus and Flannery (1996) Zapotec Civilization: How urban society evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Academic Press, New York. [2]: Flannery and Marcus (1983) The Cloud People. New York. p217-8 |
||||||
|
This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
|
||||||
|
This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
|
||||||
|
This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
|
||||||
|
not mentioned in any of the sources that deal with weapons and armor
|
||||||
|
Introduced in the New Kingdom.
[1]
[1]: (Shaw 1991: 42) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/7J8H86XF. |
||||||
|
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[1]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. |
||||||
|
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[1]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. |
||||||
|
Sources only mention bows and arrows, muskets, war-clubs, knives, and hatchets
[1]
. It should be noted that sources that specifically describe the way the Illinois Confederation waged war are relatively rare.
[1]: Illinois State Museum, The Illinois, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/te_houses.html |
||||||
|
Although composite bows were present in nearby Mesopotamia, Eastern Anatolia had become separated from this culture by around 2500 BCE: ‘From that moment onward the history of the site and of the region was completely separated from the history of the Syro-Mesopotamian areas and that of the southernmost region of the Middle/Upper Euphrates Valley; it now began to gravitate toward the eastern Anatolian world.’
[1]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[2]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[3]
[1]: Marcella Frangipane, ‘Arslantepe-Malatya: A Prehistoric and Early Historic Center in Eastern Anatolia’, The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia: (10,000-323 BCE), Edited by Gregory McMahon and Sharon Steadman, 2011, p. 984 [2]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [3]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
The principal weapon of the Hittite chariot contingent was the bow and arrow. The bow was made of a composite of wood and horn glued together, which gave it a lot of strength and flexibility.
[1]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[2]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[3]
[1]: Bryce T. (2007) Hittite Warrior, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, pp. 20 [2]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [3]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
The writings of Procopius suggest that by 533 CE the composite bow was the main weapon of the Imperial army.
[1]
recurve composite bow from sinew, wood and horn.
[2]
"Leo says expressly that ’the bow of the infantry archer is larger and carries further.’"
[3]
Archery remained important "until at least 1204".
[4]
[1]: (O’Rourke 2010, 15) O’Rourke, M. 2010. The Land Forces of the Roman (Byzantine) Empire in the 10th Century. Canberra. [2]: (O’Rourke 2010, 14) O’Rourke, M. 2010. The Land Forces of the Roman (Byzantine) Empire in the 10th Century. Canberra. [3]: (O’Rourke 2010, 12) O’Rourke, M. 2010. The Land Forces of the Roman (Byzantine) Empire in the 10th Century. Canberra. [4]: (O’Rourke 2010, 16) O’Rourke, M. 2010. The Land Forces of the Roman (Byzantine) Empire in the 10th Century. Canberra. |
||||||
|
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[1]
Bows were used by the Greeks and Romans but they didn’t place much emphasis on the bow as a weapon preferring instead infantry combat.
[2]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 29) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
|
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[1]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[2]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [2]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
The principal weapon of the Hittite chariot contingent was the bow and arrow. The bow was made of a composite of wood and horn glued together, which gave it a lot of strength and flexibility.
[1]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[2]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[3]
[1]: Bryce T. (2007) Hittite Warrior, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, pp. 20 [2]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [3]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
The principal weapon of the Hittite chariot contingent was the bow and arrow. The bow was made of a composite of wood and horn glued together, which gave it a lot of strength and flexibility.
[1]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[2]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[3]
[1]: Bryce T. (2007) Hittite Warrior, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, pp. 20 [2]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [3]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
"The ancient Hewbrews considered the Lydians accomplished archers."
[1]
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[2]
Bows were used by the Greeks and Romans but they didn’t place much emphasis on the bow as a weapon preferring instead infantry combat.
[3]
[1]: (Rich 2012) Rich, Kurt M V. 2012. Chasing the Golden Hoard: A Tale of Theft, Repatriation, Greed & Deceit. Authorhouse. [2]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [3]: (Gabriel 2002, 29) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
|
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[1]
Bows were used by the Greeks and Romans but they didn’t place much emphasis on the bow as a weapon preferring instead infantry combat.
[2]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [2]: (Gabriel 2002, 29) Richard A Gabriel. 2002. The Great Armies of Antiquity. Praeger. Westport. |
||||||
|
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[1]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[2]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [2]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE."
[1]
"The composite bows spread into Palestine around 1800 BCE and were introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in 1700 BCE."
[2]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. [2]: (Roy 2015, 20) Kaushik Roy. 2015. Warfare in Pre-British India - 1500 BCE to 1740 CE. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
"The principal weapon of the Hittite chariot contingent was the bow and arrow. The bow was made of a composite of wood and horn glued together, which gave it a lot of strength and flexibility."
[1]
. "Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[2]
[1]: Bryce T. (2007) Hittite Warrior, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, pp. 20 [2]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. |
||||||
|
Early Janissaries used weapons such as bows, slings, crossbows and javelins.
[1]
Siphai cavalry carried a bow.
[2]
Turkish bow fired from horseback.
[3]
[1]: (Nicolle 1983, 10) [2]: (Nicolle 1983, Plate B) [3]: (Imber 2002, 267) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. |
||||||
|
Early Janissaries used weapons such as bows, slings, crossbows and javelins. "not until the end of the 16th century did the majority have tüfek matchlocks."
[1]
In the early 17th century Tartar cavalrymen used a bow.
[2]
Turkish bow fired from horseback.
[3]
Janissaries, founded in second half of the 14th century, were less numerous.
[4]
[1]: (Nicolle 1983, 10) [2]: (Nicolle 1983, Plate G) [3]: (Imber 2002, 267) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. [4]: (Imber 2002, 257) Imber, Colin. 2002. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1650. The Structure of Power. PalgraveMacmillan. Basingstoke. |
||||||
|
"The local bows, according to Lafitau, “are made of red cedar, or of another species of wood, very hard and further stiffened in fire. They are straight and almost of the height of a man” (Lafitau 1977, 115)."
[1]
[1]: (Jones 2004, 48) Jones, David. 2004. Native North American Armor, Shields, and Fortifications. Austin: University of Texas Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/collectionKey/943RGM7A/itemKey/HABDQG2T |
||||||
|
Bows and arrows became quite uniform for the Iroquois as early as 600 CE. Bows used were not composite bows, as they were often made from one piece of wood, and were often as long as the size of the individual carrying them.
[1]
[2]
[1]: (Engelbrecht 2003: 8) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/FJ3EAI76. [2]: (Jones 2004: 48) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/IPU9UA8I. |
||||||
|
Code checked by Peter Peregrine. Previous notes: Archaeological evidence for warfare appears to "only" include "[d]efensive structures around villages, violent injuries on human remains, "trophy heads," the abandonment of regions, and the positioning of sites in ever more defensive positions"
[1]
, though a few weapon types can be cautiously inferred, such as bow and arrows and spears
[2]
, and, at a later date, firearms
[3]
.
[1]: G. Gibbon, Oneota, in P. Peregrine, M. Ember and Human Relations Area Files, Inc. (eds.) Encyclopedia of Prehistory: Volume 6: North America (2001), p. 391 [2]: P.S. Martin, G.I. Quimby and D.Collier, Indians Before Columbus (1947), p. 316 [3]: Illinois State Museum, Late Prehistoric, Technology: Weapons (2000), http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/pre/htmls/lp_weapons.html |
||||||
|
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[1]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. |
||||||
|
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders."
[1]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018. |
||||||
|
"During the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. several nomadic states of northern Iranian tribes came into being in Central Asia. In the west some Saka tribal confederations are mentioned in ancient Greek literature and Old Persian inscriptions, while in the east the Hsien-yün, and later the Yüeh-chih and the Hsiung-nu, tribal confederations are attested by the Chinese sources. ... Lively contacts and easy communications promoted the rise and spread of a fairly uniform nomadic culture in the steppe zone. The same types of horse-harness (bridle, bit, cheek-piece, saddle, trappings), arms (bow, bow-case, arrow and quiver, sword, battle-axe, mail) and garments (trousers, caftan, waist-girdle, boots, pointed cap) were used in the steppe zone from Central Europe to Korea."
[1]
[1]: (Harmatta 1994, 476-477) Harmatta, J. Conclusion. in Harmatta, Janos. Puri, B. N. Etemadi, G. F. eds. 1994. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizatins 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. UNESCO Publishing. |
||||||
|
"In the seventh century the Arab Caliphate overran the Sāssānian Empire and, as far as we can tell, no great changes took place in the Persian equipment then or for a long time afterwards."
[1]
"During the reign of the first King Khosrow ... a cavalryman’s equipment consisted of ... a quiver with thirty arrows, two reflex bows, and two replacement strings."
[2]
[1]: (Robinson 1967) Robinson, H. Russell. 1967. Oriental Armour. Walker and Co. New York. [2]: (Mitterauer 2010, 106) Mitterauer, M. 2010. Why Europe?: The Medieval Origins of Its Special Path. University of Chicago Press. |
||||||
|
Bow mentioned but which type is not stated.
[1]
Rock art of pastoral tribes using the bow on camel back might imply it would have to be the shorter composite bow.
[2]
[1]: (Syvanne 2015, 134) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley. [2]: (Hoyland 2001, 189) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
Bow mentioned but which type is not stated.
[1]
Rock art of pastoral tribes using the bow on camel back might imply it would have to be the shorter composite bow.
[2]
[1]: (Syvanne 2015, 134) Ilkka Syvanne. 2015. Military History of Late Rome 284-361. Pen and Sword. Barnsley. [2]: (Hoyland 2001, 189) Robert G Hoyland. 2001. Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam. Routledge. London. |
||||||
|
Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate
[1]
which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.
[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy |
||||||
|
-
|
||||||
|
Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate
[1]
which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.
[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy |
||||||
|
-
|
||||||
|
-
|
||||||
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-
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-
|
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