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General >> Other Primitive Weapons >> Did American Indians lose the bow?
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Message started by Douglas on Mar 11th, 2007 at 1:05pm

Title: Did American Indians lose the bow?
Post by Douglas on Mar 11th, 2007 at 1:05pm
I recall reading here or somewhere else, that proto-Indians had actually lost the use of archery at one point in prehistory, and re-discovered its use sometime later. This is supposedly based on archaeology.

Does anyone have more on this?

Thanks!!!

Title: Re: Did American Indians lose the bow?
Post by curious_aardvark on Mar 11th, 2007 at 2:48pm
it does seem unlikely - more likely they started using wood that rotted faster than previously and therefore wasn't dug up.

Title: Re: Did American Indians lose the bow?
Post by Bikewer on Mar 11th, 2007 at 6:56pm
Finding intact primitive bows is a rare occurence.  The few good European specimens have all been recovered from bogs or sea-bottom.
In The Bowyer's Bible series, they mention a few found in Western states, where the dry air is a better preservative than the Eastern woodlands, or the Northwest.

Title: Re: Did American Indians lose the bow?
Post by Mordechaj on Mar 12th, 2007 at 6:03am
they usually find arrowheads as indicators of bow use.

Title: Re: Did American Indians lose the bow?
Post by curious_aardvark on Mar 12th, 2007 at 7:34am
yep good point - but it's possible that flint was scarce and a sharp fire hardened point to an arrow is still very effective.

With something as simple as a bow it's unlikely the technology would be lost. You would have to both forget how to make string (or use sinew) and ignore the tales of your ancestors - bear in mind we're dealing with a culture with a verbal history. Stories are much harder to lose than books.  
The whole tribe whould have knowlege of the stories to some degree.

It's probably more likely that different materials were used that either haven't been recognised/dug up or that didn't stay whle once discarded.


Title: Re: Did American Indians lose the bow?
Post by Douglas on Mar 16th, 2007 at 4:07pm
Thanks guys, I can't remember where I heard this.

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