History of
Archery
Archery refers to the art and practice of using a bow to shoot arrows. It was traditionally used for
hunting and combat but with time it has been used as a sport. The invention of
the bow and arrow came about 10,000 BC. Military and hunting archery skill was
on important skill in the medieval times before the invention of firearms in
the 16th century (Haywood, 2013).
Stone Age and Bronze Age
Arrowheads were made of stone points about 64,000 years ago in
Africa. The arrows, were made from wood and the bows were 5 ft long. Archery
reached the Americas through Alaska about 6,000 BCE (Klein, 2008). The game of
archery was played by the people of Southern US and forces were associated with
the competition. Archery on horseback was first practiced by the people of the
Great Plains.
In Europe, bows of New Stone Age specimen were made of yew and it they
had a cross-section of D shape. European defenses indicate that archery was a
major source of personal conflicts in the New Stone Age and Bronze Age
(Haywood, 2013). In the Bronze Age archery has become something important
in the war in many regions of Europe and Asia.
The improvement of crossbows took place in the Chinese military
(World Archery, 2014). In 341 BCE, Chinese destroyed traveling intruders due to
the use of crossbows in a battle called the Ma-Ling Battle
Ancient archery
Armies such as Indians, Chinese, Persians, Japanese, and Koreans,
relied on archery tactics for competence. Arrows were used to combat massed formations (Archery Resource, 2014).
The military
forces of Eurasians relied on mounted archers especially for the Mongols. In
ancient Egypt, archery was practiced about 5,000 years ago. It increased mostly
in the times of the earliest pharaohs and was used for warfare and hunting. In
the Middle East, the use of bows and arrows was widespread in the Babylonians
and Assyrians. The bow was also a major military weapon used by warriors
(Klein, 2008). The details of the bows and the number of arrows used by the warriors
crews are in the unknown texts.
Greco-Roman ancient times
Archery was practiced in Crete which made the region popular in the
tradition of archery. Greeks considered Apollo as the God of archery. Artemis
was the goddess of hunting and wild places and she was perceived to shoot
invisible arrows. Bows are often represented by mythological figures such as
Herakles and Odysseus (Archery Resource, 2014). Archery was not a major use for early Romans but as the empire grew, they
had to hire archers from other nations. Ancient Greek archers made a big
percentage of the armies of Julius Caesar, a dictator of the Roman Republic in the
wars in Gaul. The Roman Empire included archers in the 4th century
but later the armies in the Eastern armies agreed to the mounted archery (World
Archery, 2014). In East Asia, archery has been very important in China. The
culture and philosophy of the ancient China greatly featured archery. Various
techniques and tools are associated with Chinese archery. In classical India,
warfare was described by bows and arrows. Historical legendary figures represented
the art of archery in Roman (Centenary Archers Club, 2013).
Modern sport
Attempts to turn archery into modern sport were made in the 1840s.
A meeting for the Grand National Archery Society in New York in 1844 saw the establishment
of standards for the sport of archery (Klein, 2008).
later meetings that followed witnessed improved standards and
techniques of the sport in the decade that followed. Participation in the
sport, however, declined at the end of the 19th century but it still
remained a sport in the Paris Olympics. Archery was revived in the early 20th
century in the US and this led to the arrangement of the Pope and Young Club
(Archery Resource, 2014).
Emperor Gojong was the leader in transforming archery to a healthy
pastime in Korea. The sport is popular in Japan with the continued use of
traditional equipment. The interest of the sport was revived in China during
the start of 21st century with the craftsmen advised to restore the
traditional Chinese style (Klein, 2008). The practice of mounted archery for
competition is common in modern Hungary as well as other Asian countries though
it is not recognized for international competition. The Bhutan Kingdom
recognizes archery as a national sport.
References
Archery Resource. (2014). History of Archery. Retrieved from http://www.archeryresource.com/history-of-archery.php
Centenary Archers Club. (2013). Archery history. Retrieved from http://centenaryarchers.org.au/about-archery/the-basics/history/
Haywood, K. (2013). Archery-4th Edition: Steps to Success.
Human Kinetics Publishers.
Klein, A. G. (2008). Archery. Edina, Minn: ABDO Pub. Co.
World Archery. (2014). History of Archery. Retrieved from http://www.worldarchery.org/HOME/History/History-of-Archery
