Archery

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 a person who is fond of or an expert at archery is
sometimes called a toxophilite.[1]

History
Main article: History of archery
The bow and arrow seems to have been invented in the later Paleolithic or early Mesolithic periods.
The oldest signs of its use in Europe come from the Stellmoor (de) in the Ahrensburg valley (de)
north of Hamburg, Germany and dates from the late Paleolithic, about 10,0009000 BC. The arrows
were made of pine and consisted of a mainshaft and a 1520 centimetres (5.97.9 inches) long fore
shaft with a flint point. There are no definite earlier bows; previous pointed shafts are known, but
may have been launched by spear-throwers rather than bows. The oldest bows known so far come
from the Holmegrd swamp in Denmark. Bows eventually replaced the spear-thrower as the
predominant means for launching shafted projectiles, on every continent except Australasia, though
spear-throwers persisted alongside the bow in parts of the Americas, notably Mexico and among the
Inuit.
Bows and arrows have been present in Egyptian culture since its predynastic origins. In the Levant,
artifacts that could be arrow-shaft straighteners are known from the Natufian culture, (c. 10,800
8,300 BC) onwards. The Khiamian and PPN A shouldered Khiam-points may well be arrowheads.
Classical civilizations, notably the Assyrians, Greeks, Armenians, Persians, Parthians, Indians,
Koreans, Chinese, and Japanese fielded large numbers of archers in their armies. Akkadians were
the first to use composite bows in war according to the victory stele of Naram-Sin of Akkad.[2]
Egyptians used composite bows for warfare already from the 16th Century BC[3] while the Bronze
Age Aegean Cultures were able to deploy a number of state-owned specialised bowmakers for
warfare and hunting purposes already from the 15th century BC.[4] The Welsh longbow proved its
worth for the first time in Continental warfare at the Battle of Crcy.[5] In the Americas archery
was widespread at European contact.[6]
Archery was highly developed in Asia. The Sanskrit term for archery, dhanurveda, came to refer to
martial arts in general. In East Asia, Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea was well
known for its regiments of exceptionally skilled archers.[7][8]

Types of arrows and fletchings

Main article: Arrow
The most common form of arrow consists of a shaft, with an arrowhead at the front end, and
fletchings and a nock at the other end. Arrows across time and history have normally been carried in
a container known as a quiver, which can take many different forms. Shafts of arrows are typically
composed of solid wood, bamboo, fiberglass, aluminium alloy, carbon fiber, or composite
materials. Wooden arrows are prone to warping. Fiberglass arrows are brittle, but can be produced
to uniform specifications easily. Aluminium shafts were a very popular high-performance choice in
the latter half of the 20th century, due to their straightness, lighter weight, and subsequently higher
speed and flatter trajectories. Carbon fiber arrows became popular in the 1990s because they are
very light, flying even faster and flatter than aluminium arrows. Today, the most popular arrows at
tournaments and Olympic events are made of composite materials, in particular the X10 and A/C/E,
made by Easton,
The arrowhead is the primary functional component of the arrow. Some arrows may simply use a
sharpened tip of the solid shaft, but separate arrowheads are far more common, usually made from
metal, stone, or other hard materials. The most commonly used forms are target points, field points,
and broadheads, although there are also other types, such as bodkin, judo, and blunt heads.

Shield cut straight fletching here the hen feathers are barred red
Fletching is traditionally made from bird feathers, but solid plastic vanes and thin sheet-like spin
vanes are used. They are attached near the nock (rear) end of the arrow with thin double sided tape,
glue, or, traditionally, sinew. The most common configuration in all cultures is three fletches,
though as many as six have been used. Two makes the arrow unstable in flight. When the arrow is
three-fletched, the fletches are equally spaced around the shaft, with one placed such that it is
perpendicular to the bow when nocked on the string, though variations are seen with modern
equipment, especially when using the modern spin vanes. This fletch is called the "index fletch" or
"cock feather" (also known as "the odd vane out" or "the nocking vane"), and the others are
sometimes called the "hen feathers". Commonly, the cock feather is of a different color. However, if
archers are using fletching made of feather or similar material, they may use same color vanes, as
different dyes can give varying stiffness to vanes, resulting in less precision. When an arrow is fourfletched, two opposing fletches are often cock feathers, and occasionally the fletches are not evenly
spaced.
The fletching may be either parabolic cut (short feathers in a smooth parabolic curve) or shield cut
(generally shaped like half of a narrow shield), and is often attached at an angle, known as helical
fletching, to introduce a stabilizing spin to the arrow while in flight. Whether helicial or straight

fletched, when natural fletching (bird feathers) is used it is critical that all feathers come from the
same side of the bird. Oversized fletchings can be used to accentuate drag and thus limit the range
of the arrow significantly; these arrows are called flu-flus. Misplacement of fletchings can change
the arrow's flight path dramatically.

Bow string
Main article: Bow string
Dacron and other modern materials offer high strength for their weight and are used on most
modern bows. Linen and other traditional materials are still used on traditional bows. Several
modern methods of making a bow string exist, such as the 'endless loop' and 'flemish twist'. Almost
any fiber can be made into a bow string. The author of "Arab Archery" suggests the hide of a young,
emaciated camel.[30] Njl's saga describes the refusal of a wife, Hallgerur, to cut her hair to make
an emergency bowstring for her husband, Gunnar Hmundarson, who is then killed.

Protective equipment
Main articles: Bracer, Finger tab, and Thumb ring

A right-hand finger tab to protect the hand while the string is drawn.
Most archers wear a bracer (also known as an arm-guard) to protect the inside of the bow arm from
being hit by the string and prevent clothing from catching the bow string. The bracer does not brace
the arm; the word comes from the armoury term "brassard", meaning an armoured sleeve or badge.
The Navajo people have developed highly ornamented bracers as non-functional items of
adornment.[31] Some archers (nearly all archers ) wear protection on their chests, called
chestguards or plastrons. The myth of the Amazons was that they had one breast removed to solve
this problem.[32] Roger Ascham mentions one archer, presumably with an unusual shooting style,
who wore a leather guard for his face.[33]
The drawing digits are normally protected by a leather tab, glove, or thumb ring. A simple tab of
leather is commonly used, as is a skeleton glove. Medieval Europeans probably used a complete
leather glove.[34]
Eurasiatic archers who used the thumb or Mongolian draw protected their thumbs, usually with
leather according to the author of Arab Archery,[35] but also with special rings of various hard
materials. Many surviving Turkish and Chinese examples are works of considerable art. Some are

so highly ornamented that the users could not have used them to loose an arrow. Possibly these were
items of personal adornment, and hence value, remaining extant whilst leather had virtually no
intrinsic value and would also deteriorate with time. In traditional Japanese archery a special glove
is used that has a ridge to assist in drawing the string.[36]

Release aids
Main article: Release aid

Release aid
A release aid is a mechanical device designed to give a crisp and precise loose of arrows from a
compound bow. In the most commonly used, the string is released by a finger-operated trigger
mechanism, held in the archer's hand or attached to their wrist. In another type, known as a backtension release, the string is automatically released when drawn to a pre-determined tension.

Stabilizers
Main article: Stabiliser (archery)
Stabilizers are mounted at various points on the bow. Common with competitive archery equipment
are special brackets that allow multiple stabilizers to be mounted at various angles to fine tune the
bow's balance.
Stabilizers aid in aiming by improving the balance of the bow. Sights, quivers, rests, and riser
design make one side of the bow heavier. One purpose of stabilizers are to offset these forces. A
reflex riser design will cause the top limb to lean towards the shooter. In this case a heavier front
stabilizer is desired to offset this action. A deflex riser design has the opposite effect and a lighter
front stabilizer may be used.
Stabilizers can reduce noise and vibration. These energies are absorbed by viscoelastic polymers,
gels, powders, and other materials used to build stabilizers.
Stabilizers improve the forgiveness and accuracy by increasing the moment of inertia of the bow to
resist movement during the shooting process. Lightweight carbon stabilizers with weighted ends are
desireable because they improve the moment of interia while minimizing the weight added.