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Archery is the sport, practice or skill of using a bow to propel arrows. The word comes from the Latin arcus. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern times, it is mainly a competitive sport and recreational activity. A person who participates in archery is typically called an archer or a bowman, and ...

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African invention of the bow and arrow

People in Africa invented bows and arrows, probably about 64,000 years ago. Some of the earliest arrowheads come from South Africa. As people spread from Africa to India, Australia, all over Asia, and Europe, they took their bows and arrows with them. People in Australia seem to have forgotten about the bow and arrow, but people did use bows and arrows all over Asia, Africa, and Europe.

(Really shooting an arrow, but you can see it really well here)

How does archery work?

A bow and arrow is a kind of lever, where your hand on the bow acts as the fulcrum for the lever. The arrows are wooden sticks fletched with feathers stuck to the ends to balance the arrows and help them to fly in a straight line. It's not easy to use a bow. You need years of lessons and practice to be good at it. Because it took so long to train good archers, only the richest countries could afford to have companies of archers - or places where hunting was part of everyday life, like Central Asia.

Central Asian people invented the composite bow

To make a strong bow out of wood, it has to be pretty long - nearly as tall as a person. When people began to ride horses in Central Asia, about 2500 BC, these long bows got in their way. So about this time, somebody in Central Asia invented the stronger, more flexible composite bow. The composite bow is made of layers of wood, animal horns, and sinew, glued together in layers (usually a layer of sinew, then wood in the middle, then horn on the other side), and you can bend it a lot farther without breaking it, so you can shoot arrows with a shorter bow that will fit better on your horse. Gradually the invention spread: by 1300 BC, Egyptian soldiers were also riding horses and using composite bows, and by about 300 BC Chinese soldiers were using composite bows.

Central Asians also invented the recurve bow

Later on, maybe around 1000 BC, these same horse riding archers in Central Asia invented the recurve bow. These bows were in the shape of a wide W, which can shoot further for the same length of bow. The use of recurve bows quickly spread from Central Asia to China. The Persians (Iranians) may have brought the recurve bow to West Asia, and from there to the Egyptians, Phoenicians and Greeks, who spread it to the Romans and Carthaginians in Africa.

Crossbow invented in China

Soon after the recurve bow came to China, about 450 BC, Chinese blacksmiths invented the crossbow. Crossbows, which had an iron catch added, allowed you to draw the bow, getting it all ready to shoot, and then stop it there, so you could shoot just by releasing the catch. A mechanical crank let you draw the bow much harder than your muscles could alone, which allowed you to shoot much farther than with a regular bow. Roman hunters had learned about crossbows by around 50 AD, and soldiers in the Abbasid empire were using crossbows before 900 AD. By about 500 AD, East Asian traders brought the recurve bow (though not the crossbow) to the Inuit in northern North America.

In the Middle Ages, many archers in Europe used crossbows. Even in the Middle Ages, though, archers in England, France, and Germany often used all-wood longbows instead of recurve composite bows or crossbows, because they lasted better in wet weather, and these archers weren't riding horses anyway. So the history of archery isn't always directly from one new invention to another.

History of archery in North America

Even though bows and arrows already existed by the time Central Asian people first crossed over to North America, those people don't seem to have known about them: the earliest people living in North America didn't use bows and arrows. But around 3000 BC, people in North America started to use bows and arrows. Probably they got their bow technology from the Inuit, and it spread from there across the Americas.

Around 500 AD, the Inuit probably also brought the recurve bow to the Americas, because many Native people, especially on the West Coast, also used recurve bows. Because people in North America didn't ride horses, they didn't need composite bows. Some bow-makers did still use sinew on their bows, and as soon as North American people got horses (by seizing them from Spanish colonizers in the late 1600s), the Native Americans started to invent shorter composite bows.

Did you find out what you wanted to know about the history of archery? Let us know in the comments!

Bibliography and further reading about bows and arrows:

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Who invented the bow and arrow? History of archery

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People in Africa invented bows and arrows, probably about 64,000 years ago. Some of the earliest arrowheads come from South Africa. As people spread from Africa to India, Australia, all over Asia, and Europe, they took their bows and arrows with them.

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Archery at the Summer Olympics - Wikipedia

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had its debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics and has been contested in 16 Olympiads. Eighty-four nations have competed in the Olympic archery events, with France appearing the most often at 31 times. The most noticeable trend has been the excellence of South Korean archers, who have won 23 out of 34 gold medals in events since 1984.

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What the expert saysMichael Peart is a member of the Great Britain archery squad.

Use your instinct Archers will usually draw the bow string with their right hand, but simply pick up the bow and see what feels natural. If you use your right hand to draw, your right eye will be the one you keep open to look at the target, and vice versa for the left.

Position yourself One foot needs to be either side of the shooting line. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, weight even on both feet and your body at a 90-degree angle to the target.

Draw your arrow Once you're in position, you can draw your arrow from the quiver. Place it on the bow and slide it backwards to 'nock' the arrow - this is where you clip the back of the arrow (the nock) on to the bow string. The 'cock feather', which will be a different colour from the rest, should be pointing to the left.

Position your fingers on the string Curl your index finger around the string above the arrow and your middle and ring fingers beneath it. The string should rest just past the first joint of your fingers.

Prepare to shoot Lift your bow and pull back the string until your index finger is under your chin and the string is touching your nose. This is called your anchor point. Close one eye and get the sight on your bow to line up with the centre of your target.

Breathe easy Take a deep breath and then let out half of it. Clear your mind of everything except the target, and relax. Allow the string fall out of your fingers, rather than opening them to release it. Let the rest of your breath out and hold your position until you see the arrow hit the target.

Be consistent The key to success in archery is doing the same thing every single time - from the way you stand and how far you pull back the string to how far you let out your breath.

Build your strength It's very hard to work on the muscles you need for archery in the gym. The best exercise you can perform is to get into a shooting position with your bow, pull the string back and hold for 30 seconds, relax for 30 seconds and then repeat as many times as you can.

Be still The tiniest movement can make a huge difference, especially when you are shooting over a long distance. The arrow can travel at up to 60m/second and targets can be up to 90m away. One twitch and the arrow won't even hit the board. You get the most points for hitting the gold circle. The centre of that is called the x-ring (not the bullseye). You don't get extra points for hitting it, although it defines who wins in a tie-break situation.
Getting started
There are clubs all over the UK and many of them welcome beginners. Archery is a great family sport, so you can take everyone from your six-year-old to your grandma. It's also a great sport for people with disabilities (they often compete directly against able-bodied competitors in tournaments). Club membership costs around £35 a year, depending on the size and location of the club. You can do archery all year since most clubs move indoors in winter. The indoor season runs from October to March, when you can shoot in church halls, sports halls, etc (the targets are closer, but smaller). To find a club, visit the Grand National Archery Society at gnas.org or the International Archery Federation at archery.org.

Clubs will require you to have some tuition before they will allow you to shoot on your own. You'll start with targets that are about 10m away; the distance will then be increased as you improve. You can become fairly proficient after about six weeks. Courses cost between £20 and £50.

There's only one competition that's the preserve of the top archers (the UK Masters tournament). The rest are open to any standard of archer, so you can go along and compete with your club.
The gear
Clubs will usually provide you with equipment, so at first you won't need any. Wear flat, stable shoes - golf shoes are ideal. Don't wear any kind of heel that could unbalance you, and wear a close-fitting top so it doesn't catch on the bow.

Archers wear a guard on the arm holding the bow, to protect it from the string when they shoot, and a finger tab, which is a soft leather pouch that protects their fingers. Some people also wear chest guards to keep clothing out of the way. A pair of binoculars can be handy for seeing where your arrows have hit the target when shooting long-distance.

The type of bow most commonly used is called a recurve bow. If you buy your own, you will also have to buy a sight, for lining up the arrow to the target, and stabilisers, which are carbon rods that protrude forwards from the bow and are weighted to stabilise the bow when shooting.

For equipment, visit clickersarchery.co.uk or altservices.co.uk. Good brands to look out for are Hoyt for bows and Easton for arrows. Bows cost from £40 to £1,200, and arrows from about £1 to £30 each.
The upside
Reduces stress Staying cool and precise under pressure can enable you to apply those skills in other, more stressful areas of your life

Sharpens the mind The focus and mental clarity needed for archery will boost your ability to concentrate

Tones the upper body Repeatedly lifting the bow and drawing the string strengthens the muscles in your arms and shoulders

Burns calories A 10st person would burn about 180 calories an hour. In a typical one-day tournament, an archer will walk five to six miles

Strengthens the back The majority of the work in archery is done by the scapula muscles in your back, which take the strain when you draw the bow string
The downside
It's frustrating The addictive element of archery is that it's simple to learn and yet so hard to perfect (a bit like golf). Even the best archers in the world can't hit the centre of the target every time.

The weather can scupper you British summers are unpredictable and the wind can ruin a day's shooting. There will be flags above the targets to show wind direction, but it's very hard to shoot well in bad weather.

It won't do much for your cardiovascular fitness Archery makes you stronger and burns calories, but it's not going to boost your heart and lung system in the way that sports such as running do.
Topics

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What the expert saysMichael Peart is a member of the Great Britain archery squad. Use your instinct Archers will usually draw the bow string with their right hand, but simply pick up the bow and see what feels natural.

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The need to master archery - for huntsmen and soldiers alike - inevitably led to practising the art, which in turn led to organised tournaments, the first recorded event of which took place in Finsbury in England in 1583 and included 3000 participants.

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Why did I choose this sport?
Will I ever play archery?
Will I ever make archery a profession/hobby?

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Famous Athletes: 4 of the most famous Archery athletes are Kim Soo-nyung, Park Sung-hyun, Ki Bo-bae and Yun Mi-jin who all come from South Korea
Who's winning in the Olympics Rank at the moment: It is South Korea, with the United States coming in second and France coming in third.
What are things to do when playing archery: A major thing is you instincts, if you draw the bow with your right hang, then your right eye must be open to look at the target. Breathing must be slow and steady. When you stand make sure that it is shoulder-width and your body at a 90 degree angle. Lastly is your movement. Do not move at all when shooting. Even the tiniest flinch can make a huge difference.
What are the rules/how to play: The objective of the game is to get the arrow as close to the center of the target as possible. Scoring is simple, the amount of points you get depends on where the arrows lands. The highest is 10, which is if you get the arrow to the center of the target. The winner is the person with the highest score. You must take 2 minutes to shoot 3 arrows and 4 mins to shoot 6. An arrow can not be re-shot under any circumstances. Athletes can be disqualified, have points taken or be banned depending on the severity of the offence.
Any famous New Zealand athletes: No there are no famous New Zealand Athletes in Archery.
Who invented archery, when/where was archery invented: Archery was not invented by a person but people. About 64,000 years ago the African people invented the bows and arrows and some of the earliest arrowheads came from South Africa. Then from Africa it spread to India, Australia, all over Asia and Europe.

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Resources - Where can I can my information, How reliable my information/sources, Can I contact an expert, Can I find a book in the library, Any other resources that I find/use

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Stage 2: Deciding What Really Interests Me

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Stage 2: Deciding What Really Interests Me

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What really interests ME?   I can explore further one aspect of what I already know.
Focus.1: How the game is played - What are the rules? How do you play? What equipment do people need?
Focus.2: What is the requirement to become good at archery - What kind of training do athletes do? How long do they train an average everyday? Does it have to do with skill or fitness?
WHAT DO I REALLY NEED TO KNOW MORE - DECIDING ON A SPECIFIC AREA OF FOCUS AND ASK QUESTIONS;

List lots of questions that you want to know?
1. What does it take to be good at archery?
2. How is archery different from other sports?
3. How was archery invented?
4. How did archery become a sport in the Olympics?
5. What is the basics to playing archery?

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I know that archery is not an easy sport. You have to have a good aim. I also know that you need to have strength. I know that it can be an individual and team sport and can involve men and women.