I think understand that the concept of a pointy thing on a long stick is universal, hence spears, but how did almost every culture, even isolated ones, think to develop bows and arrows? We see these from Europe to Africa to Asia to the Americas and even the Sentinelese, so what gives?
In: Technology
I mean I don’t know the history but a bow seems like a pretty natural leap to me.
You start by hitting things with a stick or throwing rocks.
You realize pointy things are better. You get spear.
You’ve probably accidentally flung things and used a long stick as a lever by accident before in your adolescence without realizing that’s what you were doing. Very common.
You pick things from tree branches and they spring back. Possibly sending a nut or fruit flying.
You end up making something like an atlatl(basically a spear launcher, or more simply, long lever with flexible stick to make things go faster), or a sling.
It’s not a big leap to go from there to a bow. At least not IMO, all the mechanics are there. They’re all very common occurrences. You’re already using similar tools and working with them. Feels natural.
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