A laminated bow is an archery bow in which different materials are

laminated Lamination is the technique/process of manufacturing a material in multiple layers, so that the composite material achieves improved strength, stability, sound insulation, appearance, or other properties from the use of the differing materia ...

together to form the bow stave itself. Traditional

composite bow A composite bow is a traditional bow made from horn, wood, and sinew laminated together, a form of laminated bow. The horn is on the belly, facing the archer, and sinew on the outer side of a wooden core. When the bow is drawn, the sinew (stre ...

s are normally not included, although their construction with horn, wood, and sinew might bring them within the above definition.

History

The

Egyptians Egyptians ( arz, المَصرِيُون, translit=al-Maṣriyyūn, ; arz, المَصرِيِين, translit=al-Maṣriyyīn, ; cop, ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, remenkhēmi) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian ...

Scythians The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved f ...

and Assyrians had been making laminate bows out of combinations of wood, horn and sinew as early as the 2nd millennium BCE. The oldest known laminated bows (made entirely of wood) belong to the

Scythian cultures The Scytho-Siberian world was an archaeological horizon which flourished across the entire Eurasian Steppe during the Iron Age from approximately the 9th century BC to the 2nd century AD. It included the Scythian, Sauromati ...

. A Scythian wood-laminate bow was discovered in the 19th century in Ukraine and is currently held at the Institute of Archaeology. It was constructed by laminating several fine strips of

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...

and

alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

wood, bound with

fish glue Animal glue is an adhesive that is created by prolonged boiling of animal connective tissue in a process called rendering. In addition to being used as an adhesive it is used for coating and sizing, in decorative composition ornaments, and as a ...

and wrapped in

birch bark Birch bark or birchbark is the bark of several Eurasian and North American birch trees of the genus ''Betula''. The strong and water-resistant cardboard-like bark can be easily cut, bent, and sewn, which has made it a valuable building, crafti ...

. It had a double-curved shape, was long and may have been capable of firing arrows at distances of over . In 2006, an international expedition to the

Altai Mountains The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central Asia, Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob River, Ob have their headwaters. The m ...

region in western

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

uncovered a laminate bow, associated with the Scythian

Pazyryk culture The Pazyryk culture (russian: Пазырыкская культура ''Pazyrykskaya'' kul'tura) is a Scythian nomadic Iron Age archaeological culture (6th to 3rd centuries BC) identified by excavated artifacts and mummified humans found in t ...

. It is of a complicated construction, with many fine strips of wood glued side-by-side, and a wooden reinforcement plate glued to the handle. The entire bow was wrapped in spiral form with rawhide and birch bark; in addition to reinforcing the construction this also made the bow resistant to water and humidity. The bow is dated to the 3rd century BCE. The modern Japanese ''

yumi is the Japanese term for a bow. As used in English, refers more specifically to traditional Japanese asymmetrical bows, and includes the longer and the shorter used in the practice of and , or Japanese archery. The was an important wea ...

'' is a laminated bow. Laminated bows in Japan first appeared around 1000 CE, during the late Heian or

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

. They were made of wood and bamboo laminated with glue, evolving from simple bamboo-backed bows to complex bows of five piece construction (''higo yumi'') by the 1600s. The

Sámi The Sámi ( ; also spelled Sami or Saami) are a Finno-Ugric-speaking people inhabiting the region of Sápmi (formerly known as Lapland), which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Murmansk Oblast, Ru ...

and their neighboursRagnar_Insulander._The_Two-Wood_Bow._Acta_Borealia
_2002;_19:_49-73.html" ;"title="Acta Borealia">Ragnar Insulander. The Two-Wood Bow. Acta Borealia
2002; 19: 49-73">Acta Borealia">Ragnar Insulander. The Two-Wood Bow. Acta Borealia
2002; 19: 49-73/ref> across northern Eurasia also made laminated bows for centuries. Hejaz Arabs may also have used a laminated bow. Reading Museum is in the possession of an Inuit made laminate bow. It was made in the Pelly Bay area of

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...

, Canada and consists of three shims of bone laminated near the handle region, and reinforced at the joints with rawhide. It has two short driftwood arrows with bone points. They reflect the shortage of wood in the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

region and the improvisation of pre-contact indigenous Inuit.

References

{{Archery Bows (archery)

History

Further reading

References