03-06-2010, 11:27 PM
Thanks for the link, Sean. Interesting paper. Darn useful, but my verdict remains the same. Blyth underestimated the kinetic of weapons in general and arrows in particular. We now have access to a number of experiments he didn't have access to when he wrote the dissertation. In light of the stabbing test I mentioned earlier, his figure of 30 J for the sword in close combat can only be considered an extreme low end. Given the tremendous number of variables involved in close combat, it's not reasonable to provide a single number. There's a huge range. Simply in physical abilities, I imagine ancient warriors ranged from matching Olympic-level athletes to equaling modern sedentary civilians. I'd bet the troops doing the majority of the fighting came closer to the former than the latter, but we don't really know.
His scholarship on missile weapons appears even more dated. He gives a figure of 50 J for a longbow arrow, which might well have been a credible number at the time. No longer. The Great Warbow shows that kinetic energy ranged from 100-146 J for the average Mary Rose bow. Only in the earlier context do Blyth's results seem plausible. He derives his estimates of energy by looking the relationship between energy and arrowhead breadth in a weak longbow reconstruction, contemporary hunting archery, and Native American hunting archery. That's not a method that inspires any confidence, as any sort of arrowhead can be shot from any sort of bow. His other methods are only moderately less speculative. Based on evidence of bow efficiencies and draw weights from across time and space, the notion that elite Persian troops could manage but 35 J has to be considered absurd. His own analysis of arrow shafts allows for draw weights of up to a hundred pounds, a number far more consistent with the overall data. Depending on arrow weight and bow construction, that should produce initial energies on the level of at least 67-100 J.
His scholarship on missile weapons appears even more dated. He gives a figure of 50 J for a longbow arrow, which might well have been a credible number at the time. No longer. The Great Warbow shows that kinetic energy ranged from 100-146 J for the average Mary Rose bow. Only in the earlier context do Blyth's results seem plausible. He derives his estimates of energy by looking the relationship between energy and arrowhead breadth in a weak longbow reconstruction, contemporary hunting archery, and Native American hunting archery. That's not a method that inspires any confidence, as any sort of arrowhead can be shot from any sort of bow. His other methods are only moderately less speculative. Based on evidence of bow efficiencies and draw weights from across time and space, the notion that elite Persian troops could manage but 35 J has to be considered absurd. His own analysis of arrow shafts allows for draw weights of up to a hundred pounds, a number far more consistent with the overall data. Depending on arrow weight and bow construction, that should produce initial energies on the level of at least 67-100 J.
