Re: Bow and Arrow Dating

"On Tue, 07 Aug 2007 10:36:18 -0700, in article
<1186508178.437328.15220@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, VoiceOfReason stated..."

On Aug 7, 11:41 am, "J.LyonLayden" <JosephLay...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Most books say that the bow and arrow were invented some 15000 to
10000 years ago. This seems strange to me, seeing as how so many stone
age populations around the world have invented the device
independently of one another, and because it is such a simple tool
compared to other artificial devices (tools, weapons, art) in use
before 15,000 years ago.

Have you ever tried making a bow and arrow by hand out of natural
materials? It's not a simple matter. Trying to find a material (or
*combination* of materials) that will bend but not break after
repeated use takes a lot of trial and error.
[...snip...]

I don't know anything about this, but what I don't understand at
all is how one can make a *straight* arrow.

I can understand a process of trial and error in getting an ever
better bow. Even a not very strong bow will work a little bit. But
an arrow, if it is not very straight, seems to be totally useless.


--
---Tom S.
"... to call in a special or miraculous act of creation reduces every
conceivable world to accident."
Jacob Bronowski, in "American Scholar" v.43 (1974) page 400

.

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