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Ever since learning that the Otzal mummy (c. 3300 BC) was actually found with a 1.8 m yew longbow I have vainly tried to find any sources that might hint at the weapon's use during the Greco-Roman period.
Has anyone else seen accounts describing the use of very large bows?
Henry O.
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Books like Jim Bradbury's The Medieval Archer and Hardy and Strickland's The Great Warbow have summaries of the archaeological evidence, but they focus on the medieval period. I haven't studied the ancient evidence in detail, but I'd always expected that Gaulish archers in Caesar's day were probably using longbows with a deer-hunting draw weight. I've always wondered why Iron Age Spain and Italy didn't have much of a military archery tradition.
Nullis in verba
I have not checked this forum frequently since 2013, but I hope that these old posts have some value. I now have
a blog on books, swords, and the curious things humans do with them.
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The bows from Nydam Mose were not longbows? I'm not saying they were, because I can't remember, just thinking.
There could be some information in H. Eckhardt 1996: Pfeil und Bogen, though it's focused on Bronze and Early Iron Age. I'll try to look for it tomorrow in our library, but last time I checked it was loaned.
Best wishes
Roman Vávra