Science Article

Humans have used archery since the dawn of history, first for hunting, warfare, and in modern times for sport. Stone arrowheads over 50,000 years old have been found in Africa, and archery has been used by nearly every society on the earth. There are many occasions when archery has changed the course of history. Not many Olympic sports can claim this grand heritage!

Pauline Edwards
Software Engineer

The earliest bows were probably short bows, used for hunting in the woods. Bows were used in this way by the American Indians, across Europe, and in the East. The Egyptians were the first to develop composite bows (bows made from several different materials), stretching the intestines of sheep to make the bow string. Egyptian archers rode on the back of chariots and must have been an amazing sight as they hurtled across the deserts around the sides of the enemy armies.

Hannibal used archers mounted on horseback from at least 260BC, as he spread his empire outwards. The Chinese developed crossbows (horizontally mounted bows operated a bit more like a pistol), and Chinese armies and emperors alike learned archery (you can see crossbow troops in the Terra cotta army at Xi an). The Parthians in Iran and Afghanistan could shoot arrows from horseback while fleeing from the oncoming armies (‘A Parthian shot’, which probably became ‘A parting shot’ in modern English).

However there are other armies that stand out in history for their use of archery. From Hungary, Attila the Hun led his vast armies out in all directions, forging a vast empire from the Rhine to the Caspian Sea. Their use of composite bows was crucial in many of his victories. Possibly the most famous archers in history are the Mongols. In 1208AD Genghis Khan led his hoard out from the plains of Mongolia, forging a large and bloody empire. The Mongols were expert horsemen who could stand high in the stirrups and thus shoot arrows in all directions. At its height the Mongol empire spread from Austria to Syria, Russia, Vietnam and China.

The Japanese developed archery into two forms, Kyudo and Yabusame . As much a way of life as a form of archery, these martial art forms are still very popular today. One of the best known books on Zen Buddhism, “Zen and the Art of Archery” was written in the 1930s by Eugen Herrigel, and describes his experiences with Kyudo.

In 1066AD the Normans invaded Britain and King Harold was allegedly killed with a Norman arrow in the eye . The Saxon English did not use many archers and it was only later in history that the English started using the longbow to such devastating effect. Probably most famous was during battles against the French during the 100 years war.

The battle of Agincourt, famously recounted in Shakespeare’s play “Henry V” , was a desperate affair. The English were retreating after pillaging the French countryside, the troops, mostly archers, stricken with dysentery (many later fought with no trousers because of this). Henry’s army was cornered by the French before they could escape to Dieppe, and when his attempts to negotiate failed he was forced to fight, despite being hugely outnumbered. The weather had been terrible with storms the night before and the freshly ploughed ground was waterlogged. In the morning the armies faced off against each other, and after Henry moved the longbow archers into range they peppered the French army, who charged through mud sometimes waist deep. Although longbow arrows were not very effective against the plate armour of the knights, they were extremely effective against the knight’s horses. Dismounted, weighed down by their armour, many of the knights drowned in the mud. French foot soldiers fell beneath the rain of arrows but pushed on and hit the English line, which only just held against their strike. In the mud and confusion the English pushed home their advantage. By the end of the battle the French had lost thousands of men whereas the English only a few hundred (Shakespeare patriotically suggests the French lost 10000 men to English 29 but this is probably an exaggeration). One other thing should be pointed out – the longbow men were not in fact English but Welsh. The “V” sign made with two fingers nowadays is said to have been made by the Welsh archers after this battle .

Women competing in the 1908 Olympics with longbows.

Due to the success of the longbow the English used it right up to the middle of the 17th century, even when other armies took to firearms. However inevitably the bow as a weapon of war faded from use as pistols and rifles became more accurate and reliable. Rather than dying out, archery instead became a popular sport. It first appeared in the Olympics in 1900 in Paris, but was dropped for many years, as there was no fixed set of international rules. Finally it returned in 1972 in Munich, and now features four events in the summer Olympics: Men’s Individual, Women’s Individual, Men’s Team and Women’s Team.