Battles & Wars › Prehistory & first cities
Bow and arrow
c. 64,000 years ago (South Africa); in war by c. 11,000 BC· Invention or discovery· Weapons, armor & warships
Mostly agreedGood evidence; some details, dates or numbers uncertain.
A bent stave that stores the archer's pull and releases it into a light arrow, letting people kill from a distance.
See it on the Battles & Wars map →What happened
Drawing a bow stores energy in the wood; releasing the string throws an arrow far faster and farther than a hand can throw a spear. Tiny stone points with glue residue from Sibudu Cave, South Africa, suggest bows about 64,000 years ago; points from Grotte Mandrin, France, suggest about 54,000. The oldest surviving bows and arrow shafts, from northern Europe, are about 9,000 to 12,000 years old. Points lodged in skeletons at Jebel Sahaba and Nataruk show bows used against people.
Why it matters
Bows let small or weaker groups strike from beyond reach. Archery stayed central to war for over 10,000 years, until firearms displaced it in the 1500s and 1600s.
How we know
Microscopic wear and residue on stone points, bows and arrows preserved in bogs (Holmegaard, Stellmoor), arrowheads embedded in ancient bones, and rock art of archers fighting.
Still debated
Where and when the bow was invented is unclear; the African and French dates rest on reading wear on tiny points, which some archaeologists question.
Inside this (3)
Connections (7)
▸Prehistoric warfare: the first massacres was waged chiefly with spears and the Bow and arrowMostly agreed
The connection
Most early war weapons were hunting tools turned on people. Arrowheads and spear points lodged in skeletons from Jebel Sahaba, Nataruk and later sites show that spears and bows did much of the killing, alongside clubs and, among farmers, stone adzes.
When and how
Africa, the Near East and Europe, from at least 13,400 years ago; rock art in eastern Spain also shows groups of archers fighting.
How sure are we?
Points embedded in bone, arrow wounds on skeletons, and rock paintings of archers in battle.
Debates and open questions
Because wooden weapons rot and leave subtler wounds, clubs and plain spears are probably under-counted compared with stone-tipped arrows.
▸Jebel Sahaba cemetery (Nile valley, Sudan) shows early warfare with projectiles like the Bow and arrowMostly agreed
The connection
Many wounds at Jebel Sahaba were made by small, sharp stone flakes, the tips and barbs of projectiles. Their size and impact marks fit arrows or light spears shot or thrown from a distance, showing that early fighting was often done at range.
When and how
Nile valley, northern Sudan, at least 13,400 years ago.
How sure are we?
The 2021 microscopic study identified projectile impact marks and stone fragments in bone; that they were arrows rather than darts is likely but not certain.
Debates and open questions
Whether bows or hand-thrown spears made most of the wounds often cannot be told from the damage.
▸Nataruk massacre (Lake Turkana, Kenya) shows hunter-gatherers fighting with the Bow and arrowMostly agreed
The connection
At Nataruk, small stone blades, some of obsidian, were found lodged in the remains of two victims, and other wounds match arrow strikes. Blows from clubs were also common. The site shows hunter-gatherers using bows against people, alongside hand weapons.
When and how
West of Lake Turkana, Kenya, about 9,500–10,500 years ago.
How sure are we?
Embedded stone points and wound shapes described in the 2016 Nature paper.
Debates and open questions
The interpretation of some wounds is disputed, as is whether all victims died in a single event.
▸Spear-thrower (atlatl) was gradually replaced by the Bow and arrowMostly agreed
The connection
In many regions the bow eventually took over from the atlatl. Bows shoot lighter arrows, can be aimed from a kneeling or hidden position, and allow quicker repeat shots. The switch happened at different times: in Europe near the end of the Ice Age, in much of North America around AD 500.
When and how
Europe roughly 12,000–10,000 years ago; much of North America about AD 200–700.
How sure are we?
A shift in stone points from larger dart points to small arrowheads, dated by radiocarbon, plus weapons preserved in dry caves.
Debates and open questions
Why the switch happened is debated, and Aboriginal Australians kept the spear-thrower and never adopted the bow. In Africa the bow seems older than the atlatl.
▸Bow and arrow was refined into the Composite bowMostly agreed
The connection
A plain bow is cut from one piece of wood, so its power depends on its length and the wood. Bowyers learned to glue horn to the inside and sinew to the outside of a wooden core, making shorter bows with much more power, ideal for chariots and riders.
When and how
The Eurasian steppe and the Near East by about 2000 BC, possibly earlier.
How sure are we?
Surviving bows, depictions in Near Eastern and Egyptian art, and mechanical tests on replicas comparing power and range.
Debates and open questions
Who first made composite bows, and whether the idea spread from one place or arose several times, is unknown.
▸Bow and arrow won its most famous medieval victories as the English longbowWell documented
The connection
The longbow was a simple bow cut from a single yew stave, about as tall as a man, with a heavy draw that took years of practice. Massed English and Welsh archers helped win Crécy (1346) and Agincourt (1415), showing what a plain bow could do with skill and numbers.
When and how
England and Wales, about 1280–1500, under Edward I, Edward III and Henry V, in the Scottish wars and the Hundred Years' War.
How we know
Chronicles, royal orders requiring archery practice, and 137 complete longbows and thousands of arrows recovered from the Mary Rose, sunk in 1545.
Debates and open questions
How much the longbow itself won those battles, versus terrain, French mistakes and dismounted men-at-arms, is debated.
▸The gun: arquebus and musket gradually replaced the Bow and arrowWell documented
The connection
Guns took about two centuries to push out bows. They were slower and less accurate, but cheaper training, better armor penetration and shock won out. England officially dropped the longbow for its militia in 1595. In East Asia and the Ottoman Empire, bows stayed in use beside guns much longer.
When and how
Europe, about 1450–1650; Japan, China, Korea and the Ottoman Empire kept bows into the 1700s and 1800s.
How we know
Muster rolls show bows falling and guns rising as a share of troops; England's 1595 order replaced bows with firearms in the trained bands.
Debates and open questions
Contemporaries argued it out: in the 1590s Sir John Smythe defended the longbow and Humphrey Barwick answered for guns. Historians still debate how effective late longbowmen were.