Composite bow

250px|thumb|A massive composite bow drawn by a [[Qing dynasty|Qing era archer, northern China, ca. 19th century]]

A composite bow is a bow made from many different materials. Composite bows can be made from any combination of horn, antler, bamboo, wood, or sinew. These materials are typically laminated together with glue.

Materials such as horn or antler are added to composite bows because they have extraordinary compression strength, which compliments the equally phenomenal tensile strength of sinew. This greatly increases the energy-storing potential of a composite bow, relative to its length.

Composite bows are able to be drawn to the same length as bows that are much larger, making them more efficient. However, it is very difficult and time consuming to make a composite bow, and the finished bow is more sensitive to moisture. Materials such as horn and antler are also very heavy, which can affect speed.

It is unclear when and where horn composite bows first originated, but the strongest evidence suggests that they were first developed by sedentary Bronze Age civilizations in Anatolia or Mesopotamia, and then spread to ancient Egypt. This culminated in the invention of the angular bow.

The composite bow was spread to East Asia by the Indo-Iranian Andronovo culture as well as the Srubnaya culture. By the 4th century BCE, chariotry had ceased to have military importance, replaced by cavalry everywhere (except in Britannia, where charioteers are not recorded as using bows).

The mounted archer became the archetypal warrior of the steppes and the composite bow was his primary weapon, used to protect the herds, in steppe warfare, and for incursions into settled lands.

Classic tactics for horse-mounted archers included skirmishing: they would approach, shoot, and retreat before any effective response could be made. The term Parthian shot refers to the widespread horse-archer tactic of shooting backwards over the rear of their horses as they retreated. The extremely short length of the composite bow made this very convenient.

Composite bows could be used without difficulty by infantry. The infantry archers of classical Greece and the Roman Empire used composite bows. The military of the Han dynasty (220 BCE–206 CE) utilized composite crossbows, often in infantry square formations, in their many engagements against the Xiongnu. Until 1571, archers with composite bows were a main component of the forces of the Ottoman Empire, but in the Battle of Lepanto in that year, they lost most of these troops and never replaced them. Bamboo, and wood of the mulberry family, are traditional in China. Some composite bows have nonbending tips ("siyahs"), which need to be stiff and light; they may be made of woods such as Sitka spruce.

A thin layer of horn is glued onto what will be the belly of the bow, the side facing the archer. Water buffalo horn is very suitable, as is horn of several antelopes such as gemsbok, oryx, ibex, and that of Hungarian grey cattle. Goat and sheep horn can also be used. Most forms of cow horn are not suitable, as they soon delaminate with use. The horn can store more energy than wood in compression. The higher arrow velocity is only for well-designed composite bows of high draw-weight. At the weights more usual for modern amateurs, the greater density of horn and sinew compared with wood usually cancels any advantage.

The civilizations of India used both self bows and composite bows. The Mughals were especially known for their composite bows due to their Turko-Mongol roots. Waterproofing and proper storage of composite bows were essential due to India's extremely wet and humid subtropical climate and plentiful rainfall today (which averages in most of the country, and exceeds well over per year in the wettest areas due to monsoons).

The civilizations of China also used a combination of self bows, composite recurve bows, and laminated reflex bows. Self bows and laminated bows were preferred in southern China in earlier periods of history due to the region's extremely wet, humid, and rainy subtropical climate. The average rainfall in southern China exceeds , averaging in many areas today.]]

In West Asia, composite bows of medium-length, with recurved, 'duck head' tips were common among the Elamite and Assyrian people during the Iron Age. Many depictions of such bows exist at the palace of King Darius in Susa, as well as the city of Persepolis.

Variants of the Scythian bow were the dominant form in Asia until approximately the first century BCE.

Western Scythian bows did not include horn; they were made of wood and sinew alone.]]

It was originally hypothesized that the extremely recurved tips of the classic Scythian design were intended to be flexible, "working" tips, in order to add speed and increase the smoothness of the draw. However, archery expert Adam Karpowicz made a reconstruction of a Scythian-style bow, and found that the tips did not flex much at all.

Bone stiffeners are found in association with nomads of the time. They are not found in Achaemenid Persia, in early Imperial Rome, or in Han China.

Stiffeners likely appeared in Roman militaries around or before 9 CE. Composite bows were made even in the cold and damp of Britannia. They were the normal weapon of later Roman archers, both infantry and cavalry units (although Vegetius recommends training recruits "arcubus ligneis", with wooden bows).

Bone (or antler) reinforcements for stiffening handles developed in Central Asia during the 3rd to 2nd century BCE, with earliest finds from the area of Lake Baikal. Fittings from this type of bow appear right across Asia from Korea to the Crimea.

Such bows were often asymmetric, with lower limbs shorter than the upper.

One of the oldest such bows ever discovered is known as the "Yrzi" bow from Dura Europos; it belonged to the Parthian culture. The Qum Darya bow is another such example, and had even more bone plates than the Yrzi bow. These bows have attracted considerable attention as their owners were blond haired, "Europoid" males wearing Chinese clothing, possibly making them foreign allies of the Chinese state.

The Qum-Darya bows have also been linked to the so-called Hunnic bows. The type of bow was superseded in the modern area of Hungary by an 'Avar' type, which could have up to 12 laths, with asymmetrical limbs and a stiff, set-back handle. Examples measured in situ suggest bow lengths of . When unstrung, the siyahs reversed sharply forward at an angle of 50-60 degrees. and flight archery remained a popular sport in Istanbul until the early 19th century. Most surviving documentation of the use and construction of composite bows comes from China and the Middle East; until reforms early in the 20th century, skill with the composite bow was an essential part of the qualification for officers in the Chinese Imperial army.

thumb|right|upright| A [[Saracen pirate holding a bow of the then-popular short Kipchak (Mamluk) design]]

The composite bow was adopted throughout the Arab world, even though some Bedu tribesmen in the Hijaz retained the use of simple self bows. Fragments of bone laths from composite bows were found among grave goods in the United Arab Emirates dating from the period between 100 BCE and 150 CE.

Integral wooden siyahs

Later developments in the composite bow included siyahs made of separate pieces of wood, attached with a V-splice to the wooden core of the bow, rather than strengthened by external reinforcement. String bridges are not present in artwork in the time of Genghis Khan or before.

Modern living traditions

All Eurasian composite bows derive from the same nomad origins, but every culture that used them has made its own adaptations to the basic design. The Turkish, Mongolian, and Korean bows were standardized when archery lost its military function and became a popular sport. Recent Turkish bows are optimized for flight shooting.

Perso-Parthian bows

The Perso-Parthian bow is a symmetric recurve under high tension when strung. The "arms" of the bow are supposed to reflex far enough to cross each other when the bow is unstrung. The finished bow is covered by bark, fine leather, or in some cases shark skin to keep out moisture. One bow had a variable cross section, with some regions being ovoid, and others 'D-shaped'. The non-working siyahs had a circular cross section. The bow was reflexed and symmetrical, and its entire body was covered in black lacquer. Because the cultures associated with Chinese society spanned a wide geography and time range, the techniques and equipment associated with Chinese archery are diverse. Historical sources and archaeological evidence suggest that a variety of bow designs existed throughout Chinese history. For much of the 20th century, only a few Chinese traditional bow and arrow-making workshops were active. However, in the beginning of the 21st century, there has been a revival in interest among craftsmen looking to construct bows and arrows in the traditional Chinese style.

Mongolian bows

The Mongolian tradition of archery is attested by an inscription on a stone stele that was found near Nerchinsk in Siberia: "While Genghis Khan was holding an assembly of Mongolian dignitaries, after his conquest of Sartaul (Khwarezm), Yesüngge (the son of Genghis Khan's younger brother) shot a target at 335 alds (536 m)". The Mongol bowmaking tradition was lost under the Qing, who heavily restricted archery practice; only practice with blunt arrows at shorted distances was allowed while most other forms of practice, including mounted archery; was forbidden. The present bowmaking tradition emerged after independence in 1921 and is based on Manchu types of bow. Mounted archery had fallen into disuse and has been revived only in the 21st century.

Archery with composite bows is part of the annual festival of the three virile sports (wrestling, horseriding, archery), called "Naadam".

Hungarian bows

The Hungarian bow is a fairly long, approximately symmetrical composite reflex bow with antler stiffeners. Its shape is known from archaeological finds. Modern Hungarians have attempted to reconstruct the composite bows of their ancestors and have revived mounted archery as a competitive sport.

Korean bows

A traditional Korean bow, or gakgung, is a small horn-bamboo-sinew composite bow.

An antler-wood-sinew composite bow, likely of Nakota provenance, is found at the Brooklyn Museum in New York City. It consisted of a wooden core with several short 'keys' of antler imbedded on the belly side, and backed with sinew on the other. Sinew was typically applied to these bows without glue. To accomplish this, sinew was braided in to long, fine cables, suspended along the back of the bow, twisted repeatedly to induce tension, and secured with a series of knots.

Replicas made with modern materials

Modern replicas of traditional composite bows are commercially available; they are usually made with fibreglass or carbon on both belly and back, easier to mass-produce and easier to take care of than traditional composite bows.

References

External links

The Asian Traditional Archery Research network
Ancient Composite Bows
Making an Asiatic Composite Bow
Five composite bows from the tomb of Tutankhamun