Lithics of the Old World: The Oldest European Neolithic Bow

Actual examples of preserved wooden projectile weapons are extremely rare because they deteriorate quickly in most environments. Archaeologists are extremely fortunate to find even a hint of these weapons during their excavations. For example~

The wooden bow was found in a waterlogged deposit and measures 108 cm long.

Archaeologists digging at the waterlogged site of La Draga, Banyoles on the Iberian Peninsula have recently uncovered a complete Neolithic bow. This site, which is being excavated by researchers from both the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Spanish National Research Council, has yielded fragments of two bows dating to the same period in 2002 and 2005. The newly recovered bow, however, is complete and will likely produce more insightful research on bow and arrow technology and the social and economic circumstances of farming communities from this period. The bow dates to 5,400-5,200 BCE making it the earliest known wooden bow of Neolithic Europe.