Bows & Arrows

1. How did they make arrow heads?

Off the top of my head, I’m pretty sure all metal arrow and spear points would have been cast.  Just as with something like a horseshoe, they might then have been worked into final shape and sharpness, but I think the original product could only have been shaped by casting the molten metal.

2. Did they have lathes to turn out the stafts?

Probably in some crude, hand driven form.  Something like the fire sticks used to start fires maybe?  They had spinning wheels for making pottery, so the technical understanding of a foot-powered or hand powered rotating device was already available to them.  I’ve never heard of a “potting wheel” for arrow shafts, but can imagine something primitive being used.

3. I suppose fletching would be with hand tools, like a knife and…?

All I can tell you for sure about the fletching process is that it’s been around a long, long time.  Well before written history (see below).  I think they would have used the feathers of water fowl if available and probably had a preferred form of pitch to anchor the feathers to the shaft (see below).  But the art of arrow making probably predates the invention of the bow itself.  Long before there were bows there was the atlatl, a dart throwing device that allowed the hunter to stand well off his prey and still inflict a fatal blow.

The clip below should help you with all the details a little.  The ice man “Otsei”, you will probably remember, was found completely intact in the Italian Alps.  His clothing, shoes and hunting gear were all in great shape and have taught us a lot about everyday life in the late Stone Age.

Amongst the earliest – and certainly the most complete – examples available to us are those recovered with the “Iceman” in the Alps in 1991 along with his complete archery equipment. Fourteen arrow shafts were found within his quiver, some apparently not yet finished and two deemed ready to be shot. One was 85cm long, the other 90.4cm and they were made from long shoots of Viburnum lantana (the wayfaring tree) a favourite source of arrow wood in pre-historic times. Birch tar had been used to attach three suitably trimmed feathers, which had then been spirally bound onto the shaft with very fine hair. At the back end a notch had been cut to receive the string. The leaf shaped flint arrowheads were tanged and fitted into slots using wood pitch after which that part of the arrow was bound with a thin thread, possibly of animal sinew. After much scientific examination this find was dated at somewhere between 5,300 and 5,200 years old.