Bowyers

[Knocker]

I was thinking about all the excellent bowyers on this site and it got me started wondering... How common would bowyers have been historically?  I wonder if most men could make their own weapons, or if bowmaking was a highly specialized trade?  Of course the answer would vary by culture, date and location.  I am sure that armies in Rome, England and China for instance would have had a professional industry creating weapons on a large scale. 

In the stone age, if you lost a leg in a mastadon hunt did you become the next Bowyers apprentice?  In the Bronze age we know Otzi was making a rough bow.  Would that have become his long term bow of choice or was it a survival tool until a better one could be traded for?  Did Pope ask Ishi if he made bows for the tribe, or just his own personal weapons?  Did most North American tribesmen make their own bows, or were there a bunch of old warrior bowyers sitting around in the teepees and wigwams while the young men did the hunting and war-making? 

I suspect that many ancients could have made a functional bow but that the master's works were sought after.  I'd also guess that historically a Bowyer would have been very good at the bow style in common use in his location, but that many here would have a much better global understanding of archery and how the materials/styles used suited the local environments. Interesting to speculate.

Keith
"Look at that hard working young buck that doesn't have two fire sticks to rub together and his poorly tillered selfbow.  And then there's that old chief over there that hasn't had his Ferrari red flat bow out of the teepee since he traded 3 ponies for it last fall".   

[NTD]

Great question, I wonder if the paleo/anthro guys have anything more than speculation on this one.  I'd like to know as well.

[M-P]

Hi,  I have no direct evidence, but I suspect that it really varied with group size.   I have read that the Omaha's in eastern NE had specialized bowyers and specialized bowstring makers, but that each man was expected to be able to make their own arrows.  The Omahas were settled in fairly large villages.  It was quite likely different for more nomadic tribes, or perhaps even for tribes that lived in smaller villages.    Ron

[George Tsoukalas]

I don't know. I suppose it varied by culture and how far from paleo the culture was. In Medieval England the bowyer artisans were actually members of guilds. It was a pretty specialized culture. I know I'm the only bowyer in my town. Jawge

[Dauntless]

The Naskapi of northern Quebec and Labrador were pretty individualistic.  Every man probably made his own bow if he wanted one.  Their wives would probably make the rawhide or sinew string.  There isn't a strong emphasis on personal property in these bands so guys probably borrowed each other's bows without worry.  They hunted mostly small game with these, sometimes caribou.  The bow was probably secondary in importance to a bone tipped lance for hunting caribou from a canoe.

The prehistoric toolkit in the subarctic is meant to be easily replicated from one site to the next, not to be dragged about everywhere.  That said I think a hunter would make a bow when his old one broke or if he traded it.

[Pat B]

I see primitive folks knowing how to do anything and everything they need to survive, whether it be bow building, arrow making, knapping, cordage, fire, whatever they need to survive. I also believe that each person had a specialty that he excelled in. There may have been specific bowyers, arrowsmiths, knappers, etc but they all knew how to do it all, they had to to survive..

[Phil Rees]

Knocker, I think you've posted a very interesting question
I would imagine,(and I'm only guessing here)  a good bow was a highly prized item because it provided food and protection for the user and the family. Therefore the skills of the man who could make such a bow would be equally prized.
Good question ...

[half eye]

Knocker,
      When I sat down with the Odawa elders, they explained nearly word for word what Pat B said his thoughts were. The Early Odawa lived in large villiages (summertime) and every man was raised to be able to make his own weapons, but within the band they also traded with "specialists". I think it's like having the skill set if you need to go into survival mode, but trade for a really slik version if you have the desire and the goods.
      They also treated their wooden weapons differently than we do. They greased their bows and arrow shafts everytime they took them up, and again when they put them back. They were also stored horizontialy, to "rest". I'm puttin a pic on here of a Chippewa (Ojibwe) whos name translated into english was "arrow-maker". So I'm of the belief that if ya name a guy for a special skill.....he probably made a lot of 'em.
rich