Glued Linen Armour- a simple test

[Paullus Scipio]

he used several methods:
1. Information derived from arrowheads:
In broad terms, larger arrowheads rquire more powerful bows, smaller ones indicate less powerful.The diameter of the socket is also useful in determining maximum force.

Just a caveat on this one: some of the only evidence that we have concerning bow strengths and archery equipment from antiquity that I am aware of, relating to Cretan and Persian archers between the 4th and 2nd c. BC, shows that a lot of caution is required for this sort of assessment. Cretans by the 4th c. BC employed Scythian-type bows, but they also employed the large arrowheads which are not uncommonly found in archaeological contexts around the eastern Mediterranean. During the Anabasis, despite the fact that the Cretans had bows of about the same size as the Persians (3.4.17), they were outranged by the them, and they only began to match them when they captured some Persian arrows. Further, we are told in Livy that Cretan archers fighting under Perseus against the Romans lacked "the power of penetration" against the Roman shields, and so they were forced to harass the enemy with stones at times (31.39.12). This strongly suggests that they were simply using Scythian bows of average power with heavier arrowheads and/or arrowshafts, and so a correlation between arrowhead and bow strength cannot necessarily be assumed.

Agreed!......that is why Blyth combined a number of methods, which turned out to produce a consistent result. His methodology needs to be read in detail to fully appreciate his work. Whilst a single bow can shoot a variety of heads of differing weights, there are limitations on this. Also, Blyth was seeking to establisch maximum forces.....the fact that some archers such as Cretans were not using an efficient combination of arrow/bow simply means that their bows were less powerful, and for test purposes, it is the maximum which needs to be established.