The Bow and Arrow in the Eastern Woodlands: Evidence for an Archaic Origin

Abstract

The timing of the introduction of the bow and arrow in the eastern United States has been debated for some time. The bow and arrow have long thought to have been introduced during the Late Woodland period in the eastern United States. An increasing body of evidence, however, suggests that this innovation may have occurred sometime during the Archaic period. Based on data from ethnographic collections, classification functions are developed that allow for archaeological specimens to be classified as dart or arrow points. These classification functions are applied to hafted bifaces from a number of sites in the eastern United States. Based on this evidence, it is argued that 1) the bow and arrow were introduced at least as early as the Late Archaic and 2) the atlatl and bow were probably used in conjunction for some period of time before the bow and arrow became the predominant weapon.