Ray Mears, The Bow: From Survival to Conquest
Medieval • 35m
The oldest known evidence of the use of the bow comes from South Africa, where microliths, believed to be arrowheads dating from around 70,000 years ago, have been found.
Evidence of humans' use of the bow can be found all over the world, from cave art in Algeria that shows a man shooting a slightly curved bow to the mummified body of Ötzi the iceman - a 4,000 year old murder victim discovered in the Alps with an arrow embedded in his shoulder and a collection of his personal possessions including an unfinished long bow along with a quiver containing 14 arrows.
But it's here in Britain, where the oldest complete bow ever was discovered, at a place called Star Carr.
Join Ray Mears as he goes on a personal journey to uncover the origins of the bow, from its early use in hunting to it's development as the first true weapon of mass destruction.
Part one sees Ray begin his journey into the story of the bow with the team at the Yorkshire Museum where he is given special access to the world's oldest complete bow, an 11,000 year old artefact from the mesolithic discovered at nearby archaeological site Star Carr.
Inspired by what he's seen, Ray takes us from the mesolithic via some experimental archaeology right through to the middle ages when he visits the most famous Battlefield in Britain, Hastings, to discover the true impact the bow would have on British history.
Up Next in Medieval
-
Ray Mears, The Bow: The Making of Med...
In part one we followed Ray as he uncovered how the bow developed from a tool used by our ancient ancestors to hunt to its early use as a deadly weapon on the battlefield.
In this episode we'll join Ray as he continues his journey into the evolution of the bow and birth of the most deadly weapo...
-
1066: The Year of Conquest
1066 - one of the most famous years in English history. In a succession crisis like no other three warlords separated by hundreds of miles and savage seas vied for control of the English throne in a series of bloody battles. From Harald Hardrada's crowning victory at Fulford to the renowned Battl...
-
In Search of the Great Viking Army
In 865 AD, England was invaded by the Great Heathen Army. The Great Viking Army, as it was also known, was made up of a coalition of Scandinavian warriors mainly from Denmark and, legend has it, four of the five sons of Ragnar Lothbrok, including Halfdan Ragnarsson, Ivar the Boneless, Bjorn Irone...
31 Comments