Adoption Dates for the Bow in North America
John H. Blitz’s paper “Adoption of the Bow in Prehistoric North America” (published in North American Archaeologist in 1988) is probably the most complete and informed assessment of when Native Americans first acquired the bow as a replacement for the atlatl. Blitz provides this map as an approximation of the adoption dates:
The bow seems to have come into America from the North, and is a relatively late technology. Blitz concludes: “In this case, a continent-wide perspective reveals a north to south chronological distribution for the initial adoption of the bow. Multiple episodes of independent invention or extensive movements of people are rejected as explanations in favor of a secondary diffusion process. The large-scale pattern suggests that this technological change is not to be explained by highly localized ecological conditions, but rather by a historical process of intergroup contact and competition. For those who adopted it, the bow as a weapon conferred a competitive advantage over groups who retained the atlatl and a rapid process of dissemination and technological replacement occurred.”
Here's a link to his paper:
anthropology.ua.edu/reprints/22.pdf
John H. Blitz’s paper “Adoption of the Bow in Prehistoric North America” (published in North American Archaeologist in 1988) is probably the most complete and informed assessment of when Native Americans first acquired the bow as a replacement for the atlatl. Blitz provides this map as an approximation of the adoption dates:
The bow seems to have come into America from the North, and is a relatively late technology. Blitz concludes: “In this case, a continent-wide perspective reveals a north to south chronological distribution for the initial adoption of the bow. Multiple episodes of independent invention or extensive movements of people are rejected as explanations in favor of a secondary diffusion process. The large-scale pattern suggests that this technological change is not to be explained by highly localized ecological conditions, but rather by a historical process of intergroup contact and competition. For those who adopted it, the bow as a weapon conferred a competitive advantage over groups who retained the atlatl and a rapid process of dissemination and technological replacement occurred.”
Here's a link to his paper:
anthropology.ua.edu/reprints/22.pdf
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