Archery is usually thought to have been created around 10,000 years ago, during the transition from the Upper Paleolithic (called the Late Stone Age) to the Mesolithic period.¹⁾

The oldest known archery items unearthed in Europe are from the late Paleolithic period, which lasted between 11,000 and 9,000 years ago. The items were discovered at Stellmoor in the Ahrensburg valley, which is located to the north of Hamburg, Germany. ²⁾

In 1940, two of the oldest known bows were discovered in Denmark's Holmegrd wetland. The bows were discovered 8,000 years ago. They were built of elm and had flat arms and a D-shaped center. The middle of the bows is biconvex. ³⁾

These Holmegård bows (as they are now known) were widely employed until the transition into the Bronze Age, although the convexity of the midsections of these bows gradually decreased. ⁴⁾

Archery was used in Egyptian culture even before it established a kingdom. ⁵⁾

Archery had made its way into the Americas by 6,000 BCE, and after horses were introduced, tribesmen took up archery on horseback. ⁶⁾

The earliest known Neolithic bow found in Europe is from 7,400 - 7,200 years before now. The whole bow was excavated from anaerobic strata. This yew wood specimen was just 1.08 meters long and had a D-shaped cross-section. ⁷⁾

Archery, according to experts, was employed for interpersonal aggression throughout Neolithic and early Bronze Age Europe. This assertion is based on the discovery of arrow heads, depictions, injuries, and Neolithic fortifications throughout Europe. ⁸⁾

Archery was used extensively in combat by ancient civilizations such as the Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Indians, Parthians, and Persians. In reality, all of these civilizations utilized a high number of archers in their armies. ⁹⁾

The employment of archery in combat was frequently crucial, particularly because arrows proved to be very damaging against massed formations among competing forces. ¹⁰⁾