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107-612: During the Trojan War, Teucer was mainly a great archer , who loosed his shafts from behind the giant shield of his half-brother Ajax the Great. When Hector was driving the Achaeans back toward their ships, Teucer gave the Argives some success by killing many of the charging Trojans, including Hector's charioteer, Archeptolemus son of Iphitos . However, every time he shot an arrow at Hector, Apollo ,

214-512: A shaft , with an arrowhead at the front end, and fletchings and a nock at the other end. Arrows across time and history have normally been carried in a container known as a quiver , which can take many different forms. Shafts of arrows are typically composed of solid wood , bamboo , fiberglass , aluminium alloy , carbon fiber , or composite materials . Wooden arrows are prone to warping. Fiberglass arrows are brittle, but can be produced to uniform specifications easily. Aluminium shafts were

321-433: A bowstring exist, such as the 'endless loop' and 'Flemish twist'. Almost any fiber can be made into a bowstring. The author of Arab Archery suggests the hide of a young, emaciated camel. Njál's saga describes the refusal of a wife, Hallgerður, to cut her hair to make an emergency bowstring for her husband, Gunnar Hámundarson , who is then killed. Most modern archers wear a bracer (also known as an arm-guard) to protect

428-474: A hot electrically heated wire. It is crucial that all the feathers of an arrow have the same drag, so manual trimming is rarely used by modern fletchers. The burning-wire method is popular because different shapes are possible by bending the wire, and the fletching can be symmetrically trimmed after gluing by rotating the arrow on a fixture. Some fletchings are dyed. Two-toned fletchings usually make each fletching from two feathers knit together. The front fletching

535-446: A lathe-like tool called a cresting machine, usually for the purpose of personalization. Like wraps, cresting may also be done to make arrows easier to see. An arrow symbol (→) is a simple graphical or typographical representation of an arrow, consisting of a triangle or chevron at the end of a straight line. It is used to indicate a direction, such as on signs and as road surface markings . A symbol often used by aromantic people

642-416: A left-twist for left wing. This rotation, through a combination of gyroscopic stabilization and increased drag on the rear of the arrow, helps the arrow to fly straight away. Artificial helical fletchings have the same effect. Most arrows will have three fletches, but some have four or even more. Fletchings generally range from two to six inches (50 to 150 mm) in length; flight arrows intended to travel

749-563: A main shaft and a 15–20 cm (5.9–7.9 in) fore shaft with a flint point. There are no definite earlier bows; previous pointed shafts are known, but may have been launched by spear-throwers rather than bows. The oldest bows known so far comes from the Holmegård swamp in Denmark. At the site of Nataruk in Turkana County , Kenya, obsidian bladelets found embedded in a skull and within

856-595: A mass weapon rather than an individual one. Significant victories attributable to the longbow, such as the Battle of Crecy and Battle of Agincourt resulted in the English longbow becoming part of military lore. Tribesmen of Central Asia (after the domestication of the horse ) and American Plains Indians (after gaining access to horses by Europeans) became extremely adept at archery on horseback . Lightly armoured, but highly mobile archers were excellently suited to warfare in

963-409: A mechanism to pull the string. Directly drawn bows may be further divided based upon differences in the method of limb construction, notable examples being self bows , laminated bows and composite bows . Bows can also be classified by the bow shape of the limbs when unstrung; in contrast to traditional European straight bows, a recurve bow and some types of longbow have tips that curve away from

1070-454: A new home. His departing words were introduced in the seventh ode of the first book of the Roman poet Horace's Odes , in which he exhorts his companions " nil desperandum ", "do not despair", and announces " cras ingens iterabimus aequor ", "tomorrow we shall set out upon the vast ocean". This speech has been given a wider applicability in relation to the theme of voyages of discovery, also found in

1177-429: A nock, most often a slit was cut into the end of the shaft, and a sliver of harder material, the same width as the shaft, was glued into the slot. The arrow was then rotated 90 degrees, and a shallower slot was cut for the string. When made in this manner, the string actually pushed the wood or bone insert rather than the soft wood itself, preventing the shaft from splitting. Another method of preventing nocks from splitting

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1284-467: A nonprofit scientific organization, the Club was patterned after the prestigious Boone and Crockett Club and advocated responsible bowhunting by promoting quality, fair chase hunting, and sound conservation practices. From the 1920s, professional engineers took an interest in archery, previously the exclusive field of traditional craft experts. They led the commercial development of new forms of bow including

1391-413: A pre-determined tension. Stabilizers are mounted at various points on the bow. Common with competitive archery equipment are special brackets that allow multiple stabilizers to be mounted at various angles to fine tune the bow's balance. Stabilizers aid in aiming by improving the balance of the bow. Sights, quivers, rests, and design of the riser (the central, non-bending part of the bow) make one side of

1498-567: A similar motif is present in the Turkic Iranian heroic archeheroic poem Alpamysh . The Nymphai Hyperboreioi ( Νύμφαι Ὑπερβόρειοι ) were worshipped on the Greek island of Delos as attendants of Artemis , presiding over aspects of archery; Hekaerge ( Ἑκαέργη ), represented distancing, Loxo ( Λοξώ ), trajectory, and Oupis ( Οὖπις ), aim. Yi the archer and his apprentice Feng Meng appear in several early Chinese myths, and

1605-434: A special glove is used that has a ridge to assist in drawing the string. A release aid is a mechanical device designed to give a crisp and precise loose of arrows from a compound bow. In the most commonly used, the string is released by a finger-operated trigger mechanism, held in the archer's hand or attached to their wrist. In another type, known as a back-tension release, the string is automatically released when drawn to

1712-477: A stock or other mounting, such as the crossbow . Crossbows typically have shorter draw lengths compared to compound bows. Because of this, heavier draw weights are required to achieve the same energy transfer to the arrow. These mechanically drawn bows also have devices to hold the tension when the bow is fully drawn. They are not limited by the strength of a single archer and larger varieties have been used as siege engines . The most common form of arrow consists of

1819-542: A time of political tension in Europe. The societies were also elitist, and the new middle class bourgeoisie were excluded from the clubs due to their lack of social status. After the Napoleonic Wars , the sport became increasingly popular among all classes, and it was framed as a nostalgic reimagining of the preindustrial rural Britain. Particularly influential was Sir Walter Scott 's 1819 novel, Ivanhoe that depicted

1926-422: A very popular high-performance choice in the latter half of the 20th century, due to their straightness, lighter weight, and subsequently higher speed and flatter trajectories. Carbon fiber arrows became popular in the 1990s because they are very light, flying even faster and flatter than aluminium arrows. Today, the most popular arrows at tournaments and Olympic events are made of composite materials. The arrowhead

2033-403: A wide range of spines. However, most traditional bows are not center-shot and the arrow has to deflect around the handle in the archer's paradox ; such bows tend to give most consistent results with a narrower range of arrow spine that allows the arrow to deflect correctly around the bow. Bows with higher draw weight will generally require stiffer arrows, with more spine (less flexibility) to give

2140-420: Is Port Orford Cedar . The stiffness of the shaft is known as its spine , referring to how little the shaft bends when compressed, hence an arrow which bends less is said to have more spine. In order to strike consistently, a group of arrows must be similarly spined. "Center-shot" bows, in which the arrow passes through the central vertical axis of the bow riser, may obtain consistent results from arrows with

2247-479: Is four-fletched , two opposing fletches are often cock feathers, and occasionally the fletches are not evenly spaced. The fletching may be either parabolic cut (short feathers in a smooth parabolic curve) or shield cut (generally shaped like half of a narrow shield), and is often attached at an angle, known as helical fletching, to introduce a stabilizing spin to the arrow while in flight. Whether helical or straight fletched, when natural fletching (bird feathers)

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2354-450: Is a technique eschewing sights and is often preferred by traditional archers (shooters of longbows and recurves). In either the split finger or three finger under case, the string is usually placed in the first or second joint, or else on the pads of the fingers. When using a mechanical release aid, the release is hooked onto the D-loop. Another type of string hold, used on traditional bows, is

2461-607: Is an arrowsmith. The oldest evidence of likely arrowheads, dating to c. 64,000 years ago, were found in Sibudu Cave , current South Africa . Likely arrowheads made from animal bones have been discovered in the Fa Hien Cave in Sri Lanka which are also the oldest evidence for the use of arrows outside of Africa dating to c. 48,000 years ago. The oldest evidence of the use of bows to shoot arrows dates to about 10,000 years ago; it

2568-757: Is based on pinewood arrows found in the Ahrensburg valley north of Hamburg . They had shallow grooves on the base, indicating that they were shot from a bow. The oldest bow so far recovered is about 8,000 years old, found in the Holmegård swamp in Denmark. Archery seems to have arrived in the Americas with the Arctic small tool tradition , about 4,500 years ago. Arrow sizes vary greatly across cultures, ranging from eighteen inches to five feet (45 cm to 152 cm). However, most modern arrows are 75 cm (30 in) to 96 cm (38 in) in length. Arrows recovered from

2675-399: Is common to say "nock an arrow" when one readies a shot. A nock is a notch in the rearmost end of an arrow. It helps keep the arrow correctly rotated, keeps the arrow from slipping sideways during the draw or after the release, and helps maximize the arrow's energy (i.e. its range and lethality) by helping an archer place the arrow at the fastest-moving place on the bowstring. Some archers mark

2782-413: Is generally preferred as it makes the points self-tighten. In traditional archery, some archers prefer a left rotation because it gets the hard (and sharp) quill of the feather farther away from the arrow-shelf and the shooter's hand. A flu-flu is a type of fletching normally made by using long sections of full length feathers taken from a turkey; in most cases, six or more sections are used rather than

2889-449: Is often camouflaged, and the rear fletching bright so that the archer can easily track the arrow. Artisans who make arrows by hand are known as "fletchers", a word related to the French word for arrow, flèche. This is the same derivation as the verb "fletch", meaning to provide an arrow with its feathers. Glue and thread are the traditional methods of attaching fletchings. A "fletching jig"

2996-401: Is often used in modern times, to hold the fletchings in exactly the right orientation on the shaft while the glue hardens. Whenever natural fletching is used, the feathers on any one arrow must come from the same wing of the bird, the most common being the right-wing flight feathers of turkeys. The slight cupping of natural feathers requires them to be fletched with a right-twist for right wing,

3103-472: Is the Penobscot bow or Wabenaki bow, invented by Frank Loring (Chief Big Thunder) about 1900. It consists of a small bow attached by cables on the back of a larger main bow. In different cultures, the arrows are released from either the left or right side of the bow, and this affects the hand grip and position of the bow. In Arab archery , Turkish archery , and Japanese archery . The arrows are released from

3210-512: Is the primary functional component of the arrow. Some arrows may simply use a sharpened tip of the solid shaft, but separate arrowheads are far more common, usually made from metal, stone, or other hard materials. The most commonly used forms are target points, field points, and broadheads, although there are also other types, such as bodkin, judo, and blunt heads. Fletching is traditionally made from bird feathers, but solid plastic vanes and thin sheet-like spin vanes are used. They are attached near

3317-420: Is the primary structural element of the arrow, to which the other components are attached. Traditional arrow shafts are made from strong, lightweight wood , bamboo , or reeds , while modern shafts may be made from aluminium , carbon fibre reinforced plastic , or a combination of materials. Such shafts are typically made from an aluminium core wrapped with a carbon fibre outer. A traditional premium material

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3424-512: Is used it is critical that all feathers come from the same side of the bird. Oversized fletchings can be used to accentuate drag and thus limit the range of the arrow significantly; these arrows are called flu-flus . Misplacement of fletchings can change the arrow's flight path dramatically. Dacron and other modern materials offer high strength for their weight and are used on most modern bows. Linen and other traditional materials are still used on traditional bows. Several modern methods of making

3531-515: The Mary Rose , an English warship that sank in 1545 whose remains were raised in 1982, were mostly 76 cm (30 in) long. Very short arrows have been used, shot through a guide attached either to the bow (an "overdraw") or to the archer's wrist (the Turkish "siper"). These may fly farther than heavier arrows, and an enemy without suitable equipment may find himself unable to return them. The shaft

3638-456: The Ulysses of Tennyson . Teucer eventually joined King Belus of Tyre in his campaign against Cyprus, and when the island was seized, Belus handed it over to him in reward for his assistance. Teucer founded the city of Salamis on Cyprus, which he named after his home state. He further married Eune, daughter of Cinyras , king of Cyprus, and had by her a daughter Asteria. Anaxarete of Cyprus

3745-486: The Amazons was that they had one breast removed to solve this problem. Roger Ascham mentions one archer, presumably with an unusual shooting style, who wore a leather guard for his face. The drawing digits are normally protected by a leather tab , glove, or thumb ring . A simple tab of leather is commonly used, as is a skeleton glove. Medieval Europeans probably used a complete leather glove. Eurasiatic archers who used

3852-788: The Kongsberg attack . Deities and heroes in several mythologies are described as archers, including the Greek Artemis and Apollo , the Roman Diana and Cupid , the Germanic Agilaz , continuing in legends like those of Wilhelm Tell , Palnetoke , or Robin Hood . Armenian Hayk and Babylonian Marduk , Indian Karna (also known as Radheya/son of Radha), Abhimanyu , Eklavya , Arjuna , Bhishma , Drona , Rama , and Shiva were known for their shooting skills. The famous archery competition of hitting

3959-583: The Levant , artifacts that could be arrow-shaft straighteners are known from the Natufian culture , (c. 10,800–8,300 BC) onwards. The Khiamian and PPN A shouldered Khiam-points may well be arrowheads. Classical civilizations, notably the Assyrians , Greeks , Armenians , Persians , Parthians , Romans , Indians , Koreans , Chinese , and Japanese fielded large numbers of archers in their armies. Akkadians were

4066-463: The Ottomans . The arrowhead or projectile point is the primary functional part of the arrow, and plays the largest role in determining its purpose. Some arrows may simply use a sharpened tip of the solid shaft, but it is far more common for separate arrowheads to be made, usually from metal, horn, or some other hard material. Arrowheads are usually separated by function: Arrowheads may be attached to

4173-593: The bow and arrow obsolete in warfare, although efforts were sometimes made to preserve archery practice. In England and Wales, for example, the government tried to enforce practice with the longbow until the end of the 16th century. This was because it was recognized that the bow had been instrumental to military success during the Hundred Years' War . Despite the high social status, ongoing utility, and widespread pleasure of archery in Armenia, China, Egypt, England and Wales,

4280-435: The drawing hand or string hand . Terms such as bow shoulder or string elbow follow the same convention. If shooting according to eye dominance, right-eye-dominant archers shooting conventionally hold the bow with their left hand. If shooting according to hand dexterity, the archer draws the string with the hand that possesses the greatest dexterity, regardless of eye dominance. To shoot an arrow, an archer first assumes

4387-437: The "cock" feather, is at a right angle to the nock, and is normally nocked so that it will not contact the bow when the arrow is shot. Four-feather fletching is usually symmetrical and there is no preferred orientation for the nock; this makes nocking the arrow slightly easier. Natural feathers are usually prepared by splitting and sanding the quill before gluing. Further, the feather may be trimmed to shape, die-cut or burned by

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4494-630: The 15th century BC. The Welsh longbow proved its worth for the first time in Continental warfare at the Battle of Crécy . In the Americas archery was widespread at European contact. Archery was highly developed in Asia. The Sanskrit term for archery, dhanurvidya , came to refer to martial arts in general. In East Asia, Goguryeo , one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea was well known for its regiments of exceptionally skilled archers. The medieval shortbow

4601-669: The Americas , India, Japan, Korea, Turkey and elsewhere, almost every culture that gained access to even early firearms used them widely, to the neglect of archery. Early firearms were inferior in rate-of-fire, and were very sensitive to wet weather. However, they had longer effective range and were tactically superior in the common situation of soldiers shooting at each other from behind obstructions. They also required significantly less training to use properly, in particular penetrating steel armor without any need to develop special musculature. Armies equipped with guns could thus provide superior firepower, and highly trained archers became obsolete on

4708-574: The Central Asian steppes, and they formed a large part of armies that repeatedly conquered large areas of Eurasia. Shorter bows are more suited to use on horseback, and the composite bow enabled mounted archers to use powerful weapons. Seljuk Turks used mounted archers against the European First Crusade , especially at the Battle of Dorylaeum (1097) . Their tactic was to shoot at the enemy infantry, and use their superior mobility to prevent

4815-547: The Grand National 11 times in a row and published a highly influential guide to the sport in 1856. Towards the end of the 19th century, the sport experienced declining participation as alternative sports such as croquet and tennis became more popular among the middle class. By 1889, just 50 archery clubs were left in Britain, but it was still included as a sport at the 1900 Paris Olympics . The National Archery Association of

4922-570: The Toxophilite Society in London in 1781, with the patronage of George, the Prince of Wales . Archery societies were set up across the country, each with its own strict entry criteria and outlandish costumes. Recreational archery soon became extravagant social and ceremonial events for the nobility, complete with flags, music and 21-gun salutes for the competitors. The clubs were "the drawing rooms of

5029-468: The United States was organized in 1879, in part by Maurice Thompson (the author of the seminal text “ The Witchery of Archery ”) and his brother Will Thompson . Maurice was president in its inaugural year and Will was president in 1882, 1903, and 1904. The 1910 President was Frank E Canfield. Today it is known as USA Archery and is recognized by United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee . In

5136-584: The United States, primitive archery was revived in the early 20th century. The last of the Yahi Indian tribe, a native known as Ishi , came out of hiding in California in 1911. His doctor, Saxton Pope , learned many of Ishi's traditional archery skills, and popularized them. The Pope and Young Club , founded in 1961 and named in honor of Pope and his friend, Arthur Young, became one of North America's leading bowhunting and conservation organizations. Founded as

5243-427: The archer more visible. Fletchings are traditionally made from feathers (often from a goose or turkey ) bound to the arrow's shaft, but are now often made of plastic (known as "vanes"). Historically, some arrows used for the proofing of armour used copper vanes. Flight archers may use razor blades for fletching, in order to reduce air resistance. With conventional three-feather fletching, one feather, called

5350-503: The archer when the bow is unstrung. The cross-section of the limb also varies; the classic longbow is a tall bow with narrow limbs that are D-shaped in cross section, and the flatbow has flat wide limbs that are approximately rectangular in cross-section. Cable-backed bows use cords as the back of the bow; the draw weight of the bow can be adjusted by changing the tension of the cable. They were widespread among Inuit who lacked easy access to good bow wood. One variety of cable-backed bow

5457-423: The area most likely to break, the arrow is more likely to survive impact, while maintaining overall flexibility and lighter weight. A barreled arrow shaft is one that tapers in diameter bi-directionally. This allows for an arrow that has an optimum weight yet retains enough strength to resist flex. Barreled arrow shafts are considered the zenith of pre-industrial archery technology, reaching their peak design among

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5564-421: The arrow would slip into the ring. The arrow could be drawn and released as usual. Then the enemy could collect the arrows, yet not shoot them back with a conventional bow. Also, since there was no nock, the nock could not break, and the arrow was less expensive. A piece of battle advice was to have several rings tied to the bowstring in case one broke. A practical disadvantage compared to a nock would be preserving

5671-431: The arrow). This step is called "nocking the arrow". Typical arrows with three vanes should be oriented such that a single vane, the "cock feather", is pointing away from the bow, to improve the clearance of the arrow as it passes the arrow rest. A compound bow is fitted with a special type of arrow rest, known as a launcher, and the arrow is usually loaded with the cock feather/vane pointed either up, or down, depending upon

5778-511: The back of the arrow and act as airfoils to provide a small amount of force used to stabilize the flight of the arrow. They are designed to keep the arrow pointed in the direction of travel by strongly damping down any tendency to pitch or yaw . Some cultures, for example most in New Guinea , did not use fletching on their arrows. Also, arrows without fletching (called bare shaft ) are used for training purposes, because they make certain errors by

5885-418: The base of an abbey tower to dislodge a wood pigeon placed approximately 30 m (98 ft) above.) The Royal Company of Archers was formed in 1676 and is one of the oldest sporting bodies in the world. Archery remained a small and scattered pastime, however, until the late 18th century when it experienced a fashionable revival among the aristocracy . Sir Ashton Lever , an antiquarian and collector, formed

5992-555: The battlefield. However, the bow and arrow is still an effective weapon, and archers have seen military action in the 21st century. Traditional archery remains in use for sport, and for hunting in many areas. Early recreational archery societies included the Finsbury Archers and the Ancient Society of Kilwinning Archers. The latter's annual Papingo event was first recorded in 1483. (In this event, archers shoot vertically from

6099-455: The body to make sure it was buried, insulting Menelaus and Agamemnon when they tried to stop the burial. Finally, Odysseus persuaded Agamemnon to let the burial happen. Because of his half-brother's suicide, Teucer stood trial before his father, where he was found guilty of negligence for not bringing his dead half-brother's body or his arms back with him. He was disowned by his father, wasn't allowed back on Salamis Island, and set out to find

6206-833: The bow and arrow comes from South African sites such as Sibudu Cave , where the remains of bone and stone arrowheads have been found dating approximately 72,000 to 60,000 years ago. Based on indirect evidence, the bow also seems to have appeared or reappeared later in Eurasia, near the transition from the Upper Paleolithic to the Mesolithic . The earliest definite remains of bow and arrow from Europe are possible fragments from Germany found at Mannheim-Vogelstang dated 17,500 to 18,000 years ago, and at Stellmoor dated 11,000 years ago. Azilian points found in Grotte du Bichon , Switzerland, alongside

6313-449: The bow and draws the string, with varying alignments for vertical versus slightly canted bow positions. This is often one fluid motion for shooters of recurves and longbows, which tend to vary from archer to archer. Compound shooters often experience a slight jerk during the drawback, at around the last 4 cm (1.6 in), where the draw weight is at its maximum—before relaxing into a comfortable stable full draw position. The archer draws

6420-494: The bow heavier. One purpose of stabilizers are to offset these forces. A reflex riser design will cause the top limb to lean towards the shooter. In this case a heavier front stabilizer is desired to offset this action. A deflex riser design has the opposite effect and a lighter front stabilizer may be used. Stabilizers can reduce noise and vibration. These energies are absorbed by viscoelastic polymers, gels, powders, and other materials used to build stabilizers. Stabilizers improve

6527-404: The bow in the left hand.) Therefore, if one is right-eye dominant, they would hold the bow in the left hand and draw the string with the right hand. However, not everyone agrees with this line of thought. A smoother, and more fluid release of the string will produce the most consistently repeatable shots, and therefore may provide greater accuracy of the arrow flight. Some believe that the hand with

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6634-405: The bowstave, the arrow's aim will be thrown off. Wooden arrows have a preferred bending-plane. Synthetic arrows have a designed bending plane. Usually this plane is determined by the grain of the wood of the arrow, or the structure of a synthetic arrow. The nock's slot should be rotated at an angle chosen so that when the arrow bends, it avoids or slides on the bowstave. Almost always this means that

6741-534: The cause of his death, when the hero drowned trying to reach her. Archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows . The word comes from the Latin arcus , meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern times, it is mainly a competitive sport and recreational activity. A person who practices archery is typically called an archer , bowman , or toxophilite . The oldest known evidence of

6848-480: The correct amount of flex when shot. The weight of an arrow shaft can be expressed in GPI ( grains per inch ). The length of a shaft in inches multiplied by its GPI rating gives the weight of the shaft in grains. For example, a shaft that is 30 inches (760 mm) long and has a GPI of 9.5 weighs 285 grains (18 grams ). This does not include the other elements of a finished arrow, so a complete arrow will be heavier than

6955-416: The correct stance. The body should be at or nearly perpendicular to the target and the shooting line, with the feet placed shoulder-width apart. As an archer progresses from beginner to a more advanced level other stances such as the "open stance" or the "closed stance" may be used, although many choose to stick with a "neutral stance". Each archer has a particular preference, but mostly this term indicates that

7062-539: The early Crusades , with models having a range of 274 m (899 ft) and being able to penetrate armour or kill a horse. During the late medieval period the English army famously relied on massed archers armed with the longbow . The French army relied more on the crossbow. Like their predecessors archers were more likely to be peasants or yeomen than men-at-arms. The longbow had a range of up to 270 m (890 ft). However its lack of accuracy at long ranges made it

7169-553: The ends of the limbs to achieve this. A typical let-off is anywhere from 65% to 80%. For example, a 27 kg (60 lb) bow with 80% let-off only requires 53 N (12 lb f ) to hold at full draw. Up to 99% let-off is possible. The compound bow was invented by Holless Wilbur Allen in the 1960s (a US patent was filed in 1966 and granted in 1969) and it has become the most widely used type of bow for all forms of archery in North America. Mechanically drawn bows typically have

7276-655: The enemy from closing with them. Empires throughout the Eurasian landmass often strongly associated their respective "barbarian" counterparts with the usage of the bow and arrow, to the point where powerful states like the Han dynasty referred to their neighbours, the Xiong-nu , as "Those Who Draw the Bow". For example, Xiong-nu mounted bowmen made them more than a match for the Han military, and their threat

7383-535: The ensuing battle. He was also one of the Danaans to enter the Trojan Horse . In total, Teucer slew thirty Trojans during the war; of those Homer mentions Aretaon , Orsilochus , Ormenus , Ophelestes , Daetor , Chromius , Lycophontes , Amopaon , Melanippus , Prothoon and Periphetes , as well as the aforementioned Archeptolemus. He also wounded Glaucus , son of Hippolochus . After Ajax's suicide, Teucer guarded

7490-620: The eye of a rotating fish while watching its reflection in the water bowl was one of the many archery skills depicted in the Mahabharata . Persian Arash was a famous archer. Earlier Greek representations of Heracles normally depict him as an archer. Archery, and the bow, play an important part in the epic poem the Odyssey, when Odysseus returns home in disguise and then bests the suitors in an archery competition after hinting at his identity by stringing and drawing his great bow that only he can draw,

7597-491: The first to use composite bows in war according to the victory stele of Naram-Sin of Akkad . Egyptians referred to Nubia as "Ta-Seti," or "The Land of the Bow," since the Nubians were known to be expert archers, and by the 16th Century BC Egyptians were using the composite bow in warfare. The Bronze Age Aegean Cultures were able to deploy a number of state-owned specialized bow makers for warfare and hunting purposes already from

7704-435: The forgiveness and accuracy by increasing the moment of inertia of the bow to resist movement during the shooting process. Lightweight carbon stabilizers with weighted ends are desirable because they improve the moment of inertia while minimizing the weight added. The standard convention on teaching archery is to hold the bow depending upon eye dominance. (One exception is in modern kyūdō where all archers are trained to hold

7811-432: The front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers called fletchings mounted near the rear, and a slot at the rear end called a nock for engaging the bowstring . A container or bag carrying additional arrows for convenient reloading is called a quiver . The use of bows and arrows by humans predates recorded history and is common to most cultures . A craftsman who makes arrows is a fletcher , and one who makes arrowheads

7918-422: The great country houses placed outside" and thus came to play an important role in the social networks of the local upper class. As well as its emphasis on display and status, the sport was notable for its popularity with females. Young women could not only compete in the contests but retain and show off their sexuality while doing so. Thus, archery came to act as a forum for introductions, flirtation and romance. It

8025-406: The greatest dexterity should therefore be the hand that draws and releases the string. Either eye can be used for aiming, and the less dominant eye can be trained over time to become more effective for use. To assist with this, an eye patch can be temporarily worn over the dominant eye. The hand that holds the bow is referred to as the bow hand and its arm the bow arm . The opposite hand is called

8132-482: The ground, though archers with hyper extendable elbows tend to angle the inner elbow toward the ground, as exemplified by the Korean archer Jang Yong-Ho . This keeps the forearm out of the way of the bowstring. Arrow An arrow is a fin -stabilized projectile launched by a bow . A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to

8239-626: The heroic character Lockseley winning an archery tournament. The 1840s saw the second attempts at turning the recreation into a modern sport. The first Grand National Archery Society meeting was held in York in 1844 and over the next decade the extravagant and festive practices of the past were gradually whittled away and the rules were standardized as the 'York Round' - a series of shoots at 55 m (180 ft), 73 m (240 ft), and 91 m (299 ft). Horace A. Ford helped to improve archery standards and pioneered new archery techniques. He won

8346-528: The historical character of Zhou Tong features in many fictional forms. Jumong , the first Taewang of the Goguryeo kingdom of the Three Kingdoms of Korea , is claimed by legend to have been a near-godlike archer. Archery features in the story of Oguz Khagan. Similarly, archery and the bow feature heavily into historical Korean identity. In West African Yoruba belief, Osoosi is one of several deities of

8453-433: The hunt who are identified with bow and arrow iconography and other insignia associated with archery. While there is great variety in the construction details of bows (both historical and modern), all bows consist of a string attached to elastic limbs that store mechanical energy imparted by the user drawing the string. Bows may be broadly split into two categories: those drawn by pulling the string directly and those that use

8560-446: The inside of the bow arm from being hit by the string and prevent clothing from catching the bowstring. The bracer does not brace the arm; the word comes from the armoury term " brassard ", meaning an armoured sleeve or badge. The Navajo people have developed highly ornamented bracers as non-functional items of adornment. Some archers (nearly all female archers) wear protection on their chests, called chestguards or plastrons. The myth of

8667-411: The leg furthest from the shooting line is a half to a whole foot-length from the other foot, on the ground. To load, the bow is pointed toward the ground, tipped slightly clockwise of vertical (for a right handed shooter) and the shaft of the arrow is placed on the arrow rest or shelf. The back of the arrow is attached to the bowstring with the nock (a small locking groove located at the proximal end of

8774-438: The maximum possible distance typically have very low fletching, while hunting arrows with broadheads require long and high fletching to stabilize them against the aerodynamic effect of the head. Fletchings may also be cut in different ways, the two most common being parabolic (i.e. a smooth curved shape) and shield (i.e. shaped as one-half of a very narrow shield) cut. In modern archery with screw-in points, right-hand rotation

8881-762: The modern recurve and compound bow . These modern forms are now dominant in modern Western archery; traditional bows are in a minority. Archery returned to the Olympics in 1972. In the 1980s, the skills of traditional archery were revived by American enthusiasts, and combined with the new scientific understanding. Much of this expertise is available in the Traditional Bowyer's Bibles (see Further reading). Modern game archery owes much of its success to Fred Bear , an American bow hunter and bow manufacturer. In 2021, five people were killed and three injured by an archer in Norway in

8988-453: The modern spin vanes. This fletch is called the "index fletch" or "cock feather" (also known as "the odd vane out" or "the nocking vane"), and the others are sometimes called the "hen feathers". Commonly, the cock feather is of a different color. However, if archers are using fletching made of feather or similar material, they may use same color vanes, as different dyes can give varying stiffness to vanes, resulting in less precision. When an arrow

9095-478: The nock (rear) end of the arrow with thin double sided tape, glue, or, traditionally, sinew. The most common configuration in all cultures is three fletches, though as many as six have been used. Two makes the arrow unstable in flight. When the arrow is three-fletched , the fletches are equally spaced around the shaft, with one placed such that it is perpendicular to the bow when nocked on the string, though variations are seen with modern equipment, especially when using

9202-430: The nock end of an arrow, primarily as an aid in bonding vanes and feather fletchings to the shaft. Wraps can also make the eventual removal of vanes and vane-glue easier. Additionally, they add a decorative aspect to arrow building, which can provide archers an opportunity to personalize their arrows. Brightly colored wraps can also make arrows much easier to find in the brush, and to see in downrange targets. In English it

9309-408: The nock position with beads, knots or wrappings of thread. Most compound bow shooters use a D-loop, a length of string material (or sometimes a metal bracket) attached to the string above and below the nocking point. A release aid is typically attached to the D-loop in preparation for a shot. The main purpose of a nock is to control the rotation of the arrow. Arrows bend when released. If the bend hits

9416-502: The optimal rotation of the arrow, so that when it flexes, it does not hit the bowstave. The bend direction of the arrow might have been indicated by its fletching. "Some arrow materials like hollow cane/bamboo/reed shafting lend themselves to nock inserts. Softer woods like pine or cedar also required some sort of reinforcement of hardwood, bone or horn which kept the string from splitting their shaft upon release. Hardwood such as oak and ash did not need additional reinforcement. To reinforce

9523-454: The protector of the Trojans, would foil the shot. At one point in his rage at Teucer's success, Hector picked up a huge rock and flung it at him. The rock injured Teucer, so that he retired from the fighting for a certain period of time. He took up a spear to fight in the war after his bow was broken by Zeus. He once again challenged Hector, and narrowly avoided the path of Hector's flying javelin in

9630-463: The remains of both a bear and a hunter, with flint fragments found in the bear's third vertebra, suggest the use of arrows at 13,500 years ago. Other signs of its use in Europe come from the Stellmoor  [ de ] in the Ahrensburg valley  [ de ] north of Hamburg , Germany and dates from the late Paleolithic , about 10,000–9000 BC. The arrows were made of pine and consisted of

9737-403: The right hand side of the bow, and this affects construction of the bow. In western archery, the arrow is usually released from the left hand side of the bow for a right-handed archer. Compound bows are designed to reduce the force required to hold the string at full draw, hence allowing the archer more time to aim with less muscular stress. Most compound designs use cams or elliptical wheels on

9844-432: The shaft alone. Sometimes a shaft will be made of two different types of wood fastened together, resulting in what is known as a footed arrow. Known by some as the finest of wood arrows, footed arrows were used both by early Europeans and Native Americans . Footed arrows will typically consist of a short length of hardwood near the head of the arrow, with the remainder of the shaft consisting of softwood . By reinforcing

9951-405: The shaft with a cap, a socketed tang , or inserted into a split in the shaft and held by a process called hafting . Points attached with caps are simply slid snugly over the end of the shaft, or may be held on with hot glue . Split-shaft construction involves splitting the arrow shaft lengthwise, inserting the arrowhead, and securing it using a ferrule , sinew, or wire. Fletchings are found at

10058-495: The slot of the nock must be perpendicular to the wood's grain, viewed from behind. Self nocks are slots cut in the back of the arrow. These are simple, but can break at the base of the slot. Self nocks are often reinforced with glued servings of fiber near the base of the slot. The sturdiest nocks are separate pieces made from wood, plastic, or horn that are then attached to the end of the arrow. Modern nocks, and traditional Turkish nocks, are often constructed so as to curve around

10165-399: The string hand towards the face, where it should rest lightly at a fixed anchor point . This point is consistent from shot to shot, and is usually at the corner of the mouth, on the chin, to the cheek, or to the ear, depending on preferred shooting style. The archer holds the bow arm outwards, toward the target. The elbow of this arm should be rotated so that the inner elbow is perpendicular to

10272-414: The string or even pinch it slightly, so that the arrow is unlikely to slip off. Ancient Arab archery sometimes used "nockless arrows". In shooting at enemies, Arabs saw them pick up Arab arrows and shoot them back. So Arabs developed bowstrings with a small ring tied where the nock would normally be placed. The rear end of the arrow would be sharpened to a point, rather than slit for a nock. The rear end of

10379-437: The suspicions that Greek traders might have reached that area in ancient times, hence introducing a number of Greek stories. The city is sometimes poetically called "The City of Teucer" and its inhabitants teucrinos . A number of sporting clubs in the municipality use names related to Teucer. Some versions of the legend say that Teucer reached Galicia by following a sea nymph or mermaid called Leucoina, while others point to her as

10486-622: The thoracic cavity of another skeleton, suggest the use of stone-tipped arrows as weapons about 10,000 years ago. Bows eventually replaced the spear-thrower as the predominant means for launching shafted projectiles , on every continent except Australasia , though spear-throwers persisted alongside the bow in parts of the Americas, notably Mexico and among the Inuit . Bows and arrows have been present in Egyptian and neighbouring Nubian culture since its respective predynastic and Pre-Kerma origins. In

10593-539: The thumb or Mongolian draw protected their thumbs, usually with leather according to the author of Arab Archery , but also with special rings of various hard materials. Many surviving Turkish and Chinese examples are works of considerable art. Some are so highly ornamented that the users could not have used them to loose an arrow. Possibly these were items of personal adornment, and hence value, remaining extant whilst leather had virtually no intrinsic value and would also deteriorate with time. In traditional Japanese archery

10700-443: The traditional three. Alternatively two long feathers can be spiraled around the end of the arrow shaft. The extra fletching generates more drag and slows the arrow down rapidly after a short distance of about 30 m (98 ft) or so. Flu-flu arrows are often used for hunting birds, or for children's archery, and can also be used to play flu-flu golf . Wraps are thin pre-cut sheets of material, often vinyl or plastic, used to wrap

10807-533: The type favoured by the Mongol warriors, known as the "thumb release", style. This involves using the thumb to draw the string, with the fingers curling around the thumb to add some support. To release the string, the fingers are opened out and the thumb relaxes to allow the string to slide off the thumb. When using this type of release, the arrow should rest on the same side of the bow as the drawing hand i.e. Left hand draw = arrow on left side of bow. The archer then raises

10914-403: The type of launcher being used. The bowstring and arrow are held with three fingers, or with a mechanical arrow release. Most commonly, for finger shooters, the index finger is placed above the arrow and the next two fingers below, although several other techniques have their adherents around the world, involving three fingers below the arrow, or an arrow pinching technique. Instinctive shooting

11021-571: Was at least partially responsible for Chinese expansion into the Ordos region, to create a stronger, more powerful buffer zone against them. It is possible that "barbarian" peoples were responsible for introducing archery or certain types of bows to their "civilized" counterparts – the Xiong-nu and the Han being one example. Similarly, short bows seem to have been introduced to Japan by northeast Asian groups. The development of firearms rendered

11128-656: Was called "a proud princess in the line of Teucer 's descendants". The name Teucer is believed to be related to the name of the West Hittite God Tarku (East Hittite Teshub)—the Indo-European Storm God—a role which explains his relationship to Belus, who is associated with the Carthaginian god Baal Hammon . Local legends of the city of Pontevedra ( Galicia ) relate the foundation of this city to Teucer ( Teucro ), although this seems to be based more on

11235-424: Was often consciously styled in the manner of a Medieval tournament with titles and laurel wreaths being presented as a reward to the victor. General meetings were held from 1789, in which local lodges convened together to standardise the rules and ceremonies. Archery was also co-opted as a distinctively British tradition, dating back to the lore of Robin Hood and it served as a patriotic form of entertainment at

11342-430: Was technically identical with the classical era bows, having a range of approximately 91 m (299 ft). It was the primary ranged weapon of the battlefield through the early medieval period. Around the tenth century the crossbow was introduced in Europe. Crossbows generally had a longer range, greater accuracy and more penetration than the shortbow, but suffered from a much slower rate of fire. Crossbows were used in

11449-611: Was to bind the arrow between the nock and the back of the fletch with sinew and hide glue or a rough cord such as silk attached with adhesive, whether it be fish glue or birch tar." Arrows are usually finished so that they are not softened by rain, fog or condensation. Traditional finishes are varnishes or lacquers . Arrows sometimes need to be repaired, so it's important that the paints be compatible with glues used to attach arrowheads, fletchings, and nocks. For this reason, arrows are rarely protected by waxing. Crests are rings or bands of paint, often brightly colored, applied to arrows on

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