otzi bow

[bubbles]

Hahaha,  trot by bowing!  Real problem in those neolithic woodlands.

[JackCrafty]

There are a couple good, very exhaustive discussions on Otzi's bow and yew bows in general over on PP:

---http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/17432#.Ve9zsO9RFgk
---http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/14119/202lb-yew-warbow?page=9#.Ve9z8e9RFgl

Basically, Otzi's "bow" looks like it was made entirely of yew heartwood and has unusual grain orientation:  it either has a decrowned back or, flipped the other way, does not follow a ring on the back.  There are also no knocks: just pointed tips.  The surface is not smoothed and shows many tools marks.  Reproductions made with yew and using the same dimensions yield bows in the 160# range at 28" draw. Otzi was 5'-3" (63") tall and the "bow" is 1.82 meters long (71.65").

You decide if it was a bow or not.  I think it's a goat-herders' stick, but that's me. 

[bowandarrow473]

Maybe it was a walking/ herding stick, that's an interesting thought there.

[magick.crow]

He did clearly have arrows.

[JackCrafty]

The layout of the equipment on the site where Otzi was found is spread out somewhat.  The quiver was not found next to the body.  Neither was the "bow", "backpack frame", or the axe.  In the small picture below, I think the quiver is in the upper left and labeled "D".  I need to find a blown up version if that picture.

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=AQY

You decide if all the equipment was actually his or not.

[magick.crow]

 I can't tell the scale of that photo but if that is the body and it is to scale and he was on a glacier which moves and he was there for 5000 years then I don't think that the things have moved all that much. Also animals like birds might have moved stuff if it smelled good also.

[le0n]

from that layout alone, i would guess there was more than one assailant.

while he was wounded, they hurriedly picked through his things from a safe distance (possibly where they were thrown during the altercation) only taking what they wanted (his finished bow and arrows and the pack covering).

assailant 1: "go get the axe!"
assailant 2: "hell no, he's still moving!"

[DC]

It's fun to speculate but the truth could be anywhere between he accidentally shot himself in the back and a bunch of stone age guys sitting around a campfire trying to come up with ways of screwing with archaeologists heads. They must have called it the stone age for a reason.

[JackCrafty]

There's a lot of speculation surrounding the whole Otzi discovery and no "central" authority on all the data.  I've purchased  books and spent hundreds of hours chasing data and I can't even be sure of even the simplest of details.  The whole situation is frustrating from a researcher's point of view.  Even the recreation of Otzi himself may be wrong because the actual body does not show signs of grey hair on his head or face.  (The wax statue has grey hair).

Anyways, the site is within a natural "bowl" that is surrounded by boulders and was locked in by ice as the glacier flowed over the top of the depression.  It has been determined that none of the items moved very far, if at all, from their original positions.  The intact nature of the body is an obvious fact that supports the lack of movement within the site.

(edit)  If I remember correctly, I think the quiver was at least 12 feet from the body... but I'm not sure.  In any case, you can use the length of the body as a scale in that small picture.

[magick.crow]

There's a lot of speculation surrounding the whole Otzi discovery and no "central" authority on all the data.  I've purchased  books and spent hundreds of hours chasing data and I can't even be sure of even the simplest of details. 

I know as much as I do because of my minimal research that I did because I want to make a replica of his arrows.
Would you be so kind as to share your arrow info with me? I too have been frustrated by this.
I would really like to know what sort of woods were used; latin names.
Woolly snowball is one wood (that is a translation of the german common name). I found a stick of it, I think and it has the amazing property of bending when wet like wire and staying in that shape as it dries (mostly). My piecse is about 5 feet long and arrow straight without heat straightening like I do with other woods. The other is stated as dog wood but there are 60 species of that and no one seems to know which one.

Thanks!

[bradsmith2010]

if the bow was in progress, we all know a 100 pound bow does not take much tillering to get to a usable weight,,,

[JackCrafty]

Magickcrow, I would try using Viburnum opulus (common name guelder-rose) for the Otzi arrows.  For the dogwood, I would try Cornus mas (Cornelian cherry, European cornel).

I don't think I have specific data on the species that Otzi used but the above examples are native to Europe and were used in prehistory for tools and weapons.

[bowandarrow473]

A guy on youtube named Shawn Woods has a great video series on building an otzi arrow.