A composite bow is a bow made from many different materials. Composite bows can be made from any combination of horn, antler, bamboo, wood, or sinew. These materials are typically laminated together with glue.
Materials such as horn or antler are added to composite bows because they have extraordinary compression strength, which compliments the equally phenomenal tensile strength of sinew. This greatly increases the energy-storing potential of a composite bow, relative to its length.
Composite bows are able to be drawn to the same length as bows that are much larger, making them more efficient. However, it is very difficult and time consuming to make a composite bow, and the finished bow is more sensitive to moisture. Materials such as horn and antler are also very heavy, which can affect speed.
It is unclear when and where horn composite bows first originated, but the strongest evidence suggests that they were first developed by sedentary Bronze Age civilizations in Anatolia or Mesopotamia, and then spread to ancient Egypt. The highly mobile Indo-Iranian Andronovo culture was instrumental in spreading the early composite bow to East Asia. The Scythian-style bow was the first composite bow suited for mounted archery, and rapidly became the dominant type of composite bow used by militaries across Europe and Asia for hundreds of years. The Scythian bow was later abandoned in favor of simpler styles with flatter profiles, and all further composite bows in history were based on this prototype.
Composite bows began to be supplanted by guns in the early modern period. In some areas, composite bows survived, and were further developed for leisure purposes. Early modern Turkish bows were specialized for long-distance archery. Composite bows are still made and used in Korea and in China, and the tradition has been revived elsewhere. Modern replicas are available, often incorporating natural and synthetic materials.
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