How and from what tree do the onions. The history of weapons in antiquity and today

The invention of onions became revolutionary forhumanity. Prior to him, distance weapons were not a serious argument in war and hunting. Sling, darts, stones - all of them were much inferior in efficiency to equipment of close combat. "Stick with a rope" began to change this balance - first barely noticeable, and later, from century to century, more and more.

From antiquity to the Middle Ages

The first bows were extremely primitive -a straight and flexible stick with a string of animal tendons is enough. Arrows - smooth twigs with stone tips. The lethal force of such adaptations was small - they could only be beaten by a bird and small animals.

But, like any armament, the bow is very fastperfected. The man began to wonder: from which tree is it better to make a bow? How can it be processed to make it more flexible, stronger and more powerful? How to improve arrows?

Already to antiquity the onion became a serious argumentfor military operations: made from a specially dried tree, with the same tension of both "shoulders", it allowed to effectively hit the target at a distance of 30-40 meters, and this for that era was quite a lot. The arrows also changed a lot - they acquired feathers that stabilized their flight, as well as metal tips (copper, and then bronze).

From the Middle Ages to the present day

Despite the undoubted benefits of onion, beforeEarly medieval times he did not get the decisive significance - the legions of the great Roman Empire did not pay him much, relying mainly on discipline and order. Throwing weapons in the Roman army were used for auxiliary purposes - for example, darts were used to weight the enemy's shields.

The first serious battles that won"hand-held", was the battle of the Hundred Years War between the French and the British. What tree do the English onion make? "Of course, from a yew!" - would say on both sides of the English Channel. The British simple bow (or simply Long) was not exact or lethal force, but only a mass character - the British were the first in Europe to rely on numerous archery squads and volley shooting.

It should be noted that the "best technologies" in the worldthey developed unevenly - if primitive structures were used in Greek policies, then in ancient Egypt, two thousand years before our time, composite bows were invented - joined from wooden, metal and horn elements, they were usually much more accurate and powerful than simple ones, being thus one and a half times shorter. The best characteristics were achieved by the optimal combination of different materials and the creation of multidirectional bends.

A wide application of the "compound bow" was received inthe classical Middle Ages - mainly in Asian countries, Byzantium and the Slavic lands. The main drawback of such weapons was the complexity of its manufacture and, consequently, the cost.

During the late Middle Ages, the onions were firstis pressed by a crossbow (much more powerful and does not require special skills and physical strength from the shooter), and then they both lost a clean fire to the two of them. Noisy, misfiring, initially very inaccurate, it punched any armor, and this plus outweighed all the minuses.

How are things with the onion today?

The twentieth century was the era of the revival of thisancient weapons. First in sports, then in hunting - in our time, the passion for this ancient form of shooting unites millions of people around the world.

What tree do the onion from today? Most often, wooden parts for the manufacture of modern sports and hunting "shooters" are not used - they were replaced by composite materials. They are stronger, more powerful and faster than classical materials.

Exceptions are copies thatare created by historical technologies. Reconstructed weapons-makers use only natural materials. From what tree do the bow and arrow such masters? Maple, walnut, elm, yew, oak, hazel - many breeds are suitable for this role.

The results of even the best "historical" specimens are inferior to modern ones in all components of shooting, except for one - the pleasure of familiarizing with the old art.

Interesting Facts

If you were transferred to the distant past and, hittingin India or Persia, they asked which tree make a bow in your city, they would be very surprised by the answer. The fact is that some specimens were made from a single piece of metal! Such "thunderbolts" required extraordinary strength and skill, so they were used very rarely.

The unique design of Japanese onions is Yumi. He, unlike all the others, was asymmetric - the handle and the point of attachment of the boom were at a distance of one-third the length of the bow from below. Learning to shoot from yumi was not easy, but the results of the samurai showed amazing - arrows from their bows flew to a distance of 350 meters! Until now, in the Land of the Rising Sun, asymmetric Yumi are doing, and shooting from it is not only a sport or a hobby, but an important element in the upbringing of the individual. What kind of tree do Japanese masters make onions? Traditional material for classical specimens is bamboo, although wooden planks are also used, connected by a thin string.