[mamelukesabre]

the arms race went like this:

rock
club
club with a rock attached
club with a sharp pointy rock attached
long pointy stick
thrusting spear(pointy stick with a stone tip)
throwing spear(lighter, works from a distance)
atlatl(mini spear that flies further)
simple bow and arrow(mini mini spear that is thrown with little effort)
recurve
composite bow
cross bow and bolt

The arrow is easy to understand how it came about. The bow is a little puzzling. There must’ve been a use for a springy piece of wood prior to the bow and arrow. But I don’t know what it was.

[UCANSEE2]

The bow is a little puzzling.

Consider this :

First there was the 'sling' that was a string that threw a rock.

Then, they attached a stick to the string, and got more distance.

Then they tried bending the stick, and seeing if they could use the 'spring' of the stick to launch the projectile.

Then they got longer sticks. Then they tried tying down the bent stick (weapon loaded and ready).

Eventually someone tied the string to both ends of the bent over stick. During a struggle over it someone pulled the string back, and then let go. A 'lightbulb' went off in the other's head, and he started dreaming up what kind of projectile could be launched by this new found 'power'.

You know the rest.

[21twelve]

“There must’ve been a use for a springy piece of wood prior to the bow and arrow.”

I wonder if some guy, after getting slapped in the face by a branch pushed over from the guy in front of him, figured it out?

[knarf]

"The arrow is easy to understand how it came about. The bow is a little puzzling. There must’ve been a use for a springy piece of wood prior to the bow and arrow. But I don’t know what it was."

I would imagine just walking through the flora single file and getting snapped in the face by a branch that the inconsiderate guy in front allowed (ala Three Stooges) ... would trigger a thought or two.

Did I just say trigger ?