ARCHERYBY CARLA ALVAREZ

Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat, while in modern times, its main use is that of a competitive sport and recreational activity.

Archery is the art, practice, or skill

of propelling arrows with the use of a bow.

A person who participates in archery is typically known as

an "archer" or a "bowman“.

The bow seems to have been invented in the later Paleolithic or early Mesolithic periods. The oldest indication for its use in Europe comes from the north of Hamburg, Germany and dates from the late Paleolithic, about 10000/9000 BCE.

The arrows were made of pine and consisted of a

mainshaft and a 15-20 cm 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 earliest proof of bows and arrows being used comes from cave paintings in Valltorta Gorge in Spain

The oldest bows known so far come from Denmark. Bows eventually replaced the spear-thrower as the predominant means for launching shafted projectiles, on every continent except Australia, though spear-throwers persisted alongside the bow in parts of the Americas.

Bows and arrows have been present in Egyptian culture since its predynastic origins.

The 1840s saw the first attempts at turning the recreation into a modern sport. The first Grand National Archery Society meeting was held in York in 1844 and over the next decade the extravagant and festive practices of the past were gradually whittled away and the rules were standardised as the “York Round”.

Horace A. Ford helped to improve archery standards and pioneered new archery techniques. He won the Grand National 11 times in a row.

Towards the end of the 19th century, the sport experienced declining participation as alternative sports such as croquet and tennis became more popular among the middle class. By 1889, just 50 archery clubs were left in Britain, but it was still included as a sport at the 1900 Paris Olympics.From the 1920s, professional engineers took an interest in archery, previously the exclusive field of traditional craft experts.Modern game archery owes much of its success to Fred Bear an American bow hunter and bow manufacturer.

Types of bows

While there is great variety in the construction details of bows , all bows consist of a string attached to elastic limbs that store mechanical energy imparted by the user drawing the string. Directly drawn bows may be further divided based upon differences in the method of limb construction, notable examples being self bows, laminated bows and composite bows.

Compound bows are designed to reduce the force required to hold the string at full draw, hence allowing the archer more time to aim with less muscular stress.

Types of arrows

The most common form of arrow consists of a shaft with an arrowhead attached to the front end and with fletchings and a nock attached to the other end. Arrows across time and history are normally 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.

The arrowhead is the primary functional component of the arrow. Some arrows may simply use a sharpened tip of the solid shaft, but it is far more common for separate arrowheads to be made, usually from metal, stone, or other hard materials.

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. Almost any fiber can be made into a bow string.

Most archers wear a bracer to protect the inside of the bow arm from being hit by the string and prevent clothing from catching the bow string. Some archers (mostly women) also wear protection on their chests, called chestguards or plastrons.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.

To shoot an arrow, an archer first assumes the correct stance. The body should be at or nearly perpendicular to the target and the shooting line, with the feet placed shoulder-width apart.

To load, the bow is pointed toward the ground, tipped slightly clockwise of vertical and the shaft of the arrow is placed on the arrow rest or shelf. The back of the arrow is attached to the bowstring with the nock. This step is called "nocking the arrow".

Typical arrows with three vanes should be oriented

such that a single vane, the "cock feather", is

pointing away from the bow, to improve the

clearance of the arrow as it passes the arrow rest.

THE END