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Iceman’s bow and archery equipment (Read 611 times)
duckdiver
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Iceman’s bow and archery equipment
May 4th, 2020 at 12:09am
 
Came across this comparison of the iceman’s archery gear, including a comparison to other self bows on the primitive ways site.  Lots of interesting posts of wide range of tech as well as cooking techniques.  Even a couple of slings.

http://www.primitiveways.com/Otzi%27s_bow.html
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Bill Skinner
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Re: Iceman’s bow and archery equipment
Reply #1 - May 5th, 2020 at 11:32am
 
I think the current theory is that the stick was actually a walking stick rather than an unfinished bow.  Or, if it was a unfinished bow, he had just started work. 

BTW, I haven't actually heard of a true bow makers' opinion of the staff.  Yew has to have a layer of sap wood for the back and the heart wood for the belly or the bow will break very quickly.

The only pictures that I have seen show little to no sap wood and the grain is violated in a lot of areas, which will cause the bow to break when floor tillering.
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joe_meadmaker
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Re: Iceman’s bow and archery equipment
Reply #2 - May 5th, 2020 at 10:19pm
 
Bill Skinner wrote on May 5th, 2020 at 11:32am:
Yew has to have a layer of sap wood for the back and the heart wood for the belly or the bow will break very quickly.

I heard differently on this once.  While the layer of sapwood definitely gives a yew bow that iconic look, I heard at one point that the tensile strength of the sapwood is greater than the heartwood by only a very small amount.  It was a while ago when I saw it, but I believe the guy in the video was shooting a yew bow of only heartwood.

Although take that with a grain of salt, it was the only time I've heard that.
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