Or did the vikings bring the technology to the native americans?
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Most likely yes, because there is indication that bows are more recent than the land bridge between America and Asia.
Most likely it was only fairly simple spears andother small s
tone tools that were in the possession of the people who cross to the landbridge.
This is one of many examples of various cultures around the world inventing pretty much the same solutions to the same problems.
https://gpb.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/c0305220-c795-4128-9066-43eabdb87180/native-americans-use-bows-and-arrows/
The earliest bows and arrows we have found are in Africa and are from 60,000 years ago, before human beings even settled Europe, let alone the Americas. So most likely neither Europeans nor Native Americans invented the bow at all. They could have brought it with them when they arrived, or received it at any point through cultural exchange since then – the Americas were never actually fully cut off from the rest of the world, as the people living in Alaska and Siberia always had contact with each other. There were definitely bows in America long before the vikings showed up.
More than likely, the bow already existed when humans arrived in North America about 20,000 years ago. There’s no way for us to know for sure, but it’s likely that they brought at least some form of arrow technology with them when they arrived in the Americas.
Bow and arrow usage in North America predates when the Vikings reaching it.
The answer to who invented it might be neither.
The beginning of archery is not known. There are found that likly are arrowheads from in South Africa that date from approximately 72,000–60,000 years ago. The problem is an arrowhead might have had other uses and so we do not know for sure.
They are sone point in France’s data to 54,000 years ago that might be arrowhead,
The oldest definite bow was found in Demmark and it dated to 8,000 before the present.
It looks like Achery might have reached America as early as 6000 BC from Asia via Alaska. It was widely used around 500 AD
So the invention of the bow might been invented once, likely in Africa and it might have spread all over the world from there. It could be been invented multiple times or in another location. We simply do not know.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_archery
Heres a paper on the topic.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/239942181_The_Bow_and_Arrow_in_Northern_North_America
The long and short of it is that it is compicated. There is evidence that the bow was here very early, but it seems to have fallen out of use in many places. You dont see widespread adoption until much more recently, and thos seems to be due to the introduction of new bowmaking technologies from Asia.
This also highlights that people were constantly coming and going across the Bering Strait, so technologies could diffuse through that area.
Bows and arrows are REALLY old, like almost as old as modern humans old, like when Europe was covered in ice and humans hadn’t gotten to America old.
There are only so many ways to fling a stick really far. I would have no difficulty believing that multiple societies figured it out independently.
Here is what I found on the ELI3 app – they give you answers actual 5 year-olds would understand:
“Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there were people in Europe and people in America, but they didn’t have cell phones or email back then, so they couldn’t talk to each other. These people loved to hunt and needed something to catch their food from a distance. So, you know what they did? They both had a brilliant idea at the same time! They thought, “Hey, let’s make a special kind of weapon called a bow and arrow!”
The Europeans invented their bows and arrows using wood and string, while the Native Americans used different materials they found in their forests. It’s like when two people think of the same joke without knowing it! Even though they were far away from each other, they both had the same great idea. Isn’t that amazing? If you have any more questions, let’s go on an adventure together and find out more about the clever things people invented in different parts of the world!”
People seem to be acting as if bows and arrows are some kind of incredible feat of ingenuity. Like spears, I’d be willing to bet that they were invented, separately, all over the world.
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