Some Archery History

Archery is one of the most ancient of all the arts. From the time of its creation all the way through the 1500s AD, the bow and quiver were a man's constant companion. The bow is in fact the most often used weapon in the history of mankind. It was the bow that permitted hunter-gatherer societies to thrive and make mankind the most dominant hunting species on the face of the earth.

From the time of the coming of William the Conquerer, the bow become the principal weapon of England and English mastery of the longbow helped them to crush the French in many battles in the High Middle Ages. Indeed at the Battle of Agincourt and the Battle of Crecy in the 1300s in France, the totally outnumbered and out-horsed English army smashed the cavalry-heavy and powerful French army with the use of the longbow. These longbows had incredible draw weights between 60 and 120 pounds and many had to be mechanically cranked back for the and were carted about on wheels. From 1330 to 1414 the English banned all sports except archery because other sports detracted from time that could be spent practicing archery. Archery tournaments as we know them today, in fact, originated in England.

In 1200 AD or so Genghis Khan and his Mongols conquered much of the then-known world by using powerful, short, compact bows. Native Americans depended entirely on the bow for both food and defending themselves. Once guns were developed and become more deadly than bows, archery remained alive and well as one of mankind's most cherished means of exercise and sport. Archery's development actually is as vital of a cultural development as the discovery and application of fire and the development of faster and faster means of travel. Archery is a deep part of mankind's cultures all across the globe.

Around 3500 BC the ancient proto-Egyptians were using bows as long as the height of a man. At first made of flint, later on their arrowheads were made from bronze. Then around 1500 BC the Assyrian Empire created the recurve bow. The recurve bow gave more power and was easier to manipulate. The Parthians of what is now Iran, Iraq, and some of sub-India became legendary for their ability to shoot backwards with a bow while riding on a horse. The Hittites had developed the skill of shooting with bow and arrow while standing in moving war chariot by 1200 BC. And although they had formerly never been all that good with archery, by 500 AD the Romans started anchoring to the chin instead of the chest and they suddenly were experts.

In the US, the National Archery Association came into being as a result of the fact that after the Civil War the former Confederate soldiers were forbidden from using guns. So the Thompson brothers learned how to hunt in the forests by using bow and arrow. The brothers became the founding members of the NAA in 1879 at Crawfordsville, Indiana.