Bow and arrow Bow and arrow The bow and arrow is a ranged weapon system consisting of an elastic launching device (bow) and long-shafted projectiles (arrows). "Archery" is the art, practice or skill of using bows to shoot arrows. A person who shoots arrows with a bow is called a "bowman" or an "archer". Someone who makes bows is known as a "bowyer", one who makes arrows is a "fletcher", and one who manufactures metal arrowheads is an "arrowsmith". The use of bows and arrows by humans for hunting predates recorded history and was common to many prehistoric cultures. They were important weapons
History of archery may well be arrowheads. The oldest indication for archery in Europe comes from Stellmoor in the Ahrensburg valley north of Hamburg, Germany. They were associated with artifacts of the late Paleolithic (11,000-9,000BP). The arrows were made of pine and consisted of a mainshaft and a 15-20 centimetre (6-8 inches) long foreshaft with a flint point. They had shallow grooves on the base, indicating that they were shot from a bow. The oldest definite bows known so far come from the Holmegård swamp in Denmark. In the 1940s, two bows were found there, dated to about 8,000 BP. The Holmegaard bows