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
Projectile weapons are super broken. The value of being ability to kill something without getting close to it is impossible to overstate.
For primitive man, there are 3 types tools you can make that are projectile weapons.
1. You can throw things. This works, but has short range because arms just arent that long, and there is a minimum effective projectile weight/size because of your arm isnt great at going fast
2. You can use a lever to throw things farther (atlatl, sling). These let you throw a light projectile with the same leverage as a large projectile, so it has better range
3. You can make a device that uses spring energy to throws a projectile for you. This is great because you can slowly put energy in to charge the spring, and it releases it all at once. Any way you do this can be described as a bow except for slingshots (Not invented until the 1900s) or requires compression springs (generally weaker than stretching a spring).
Of the 3, the bow is the best option available until you discover how to use chemical propellent. Its powerful, good range, and simple. Pretty much any springy branch you bend and tie a string onto will work as a bow (not a great bow, but functional). There are just so many designs of things that are all described as bows, that its inevitable any civilization will invent their own.
That and, if your civilization DOESNT invent the bow, your neighbor probably did, and you cant war against bows without your own bows.
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