Even today’s archaeology, with its sophisticated modern technology, cannot answer the question: when was the bow first invented? It is, however, an established fact that the arrow pre-dated the bow by several thousand years, in the form of long, thin, fletched spears cast with the help of a spear-thrower, or atlatl by its Aztec name. The oldest known ‘arrow heads’, with wildly varied dating, are most likely to be the sole remains of these widespread and surprisingly efficient weapons. Only shaft remains with a nock slit to accommodate a string could by inference prove the actual existence and use of bows, but since they were made of wood, none older than approximately 10,000 BC have thus far been discovered.
It seems likely that the bow was invented in northern Europe…
