Blah blah bc time is backward, 9,000 is older than 8,999, now that we have that out of the way I wonder how they calculate the invention of the bow. Like they just haven't found one anywhere older then that. It's just green sticks and ropes at some point. Wonder what the chances are there was something prior that we don't know because it wasn't built long enough to last.

[–] andros_rex@lemmy.world 2 points 54 minutes ago

There’s always big error bars on these dates for that kind of reason. Actual archeologists are going to be careful with their language and say things like “the earliest evidence we have for bows is around 9000 BCE.”

[–] LordGimp@lemm.ee 18 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

9000+ BC - no arrow heads

8999 BC to present - butt loads of arrowheads

[–] SippyCup@feddit.nl 3 points 46 minutes ago

We have "arrowheads" as old as 72000 years old. Some found outside of Africa are 40ish thousand years old. We're not certain what these objects are, but we're pretty sure they're arrowheads.

The oldest evidence for a bow we've found is only 9000 years old. But if you think about what a bow is made of, it stands to reason that we wouldn't find one much older than that.

[–] SippyCup@feddit.nl 1 points 49 minutes ago

We have arrowheads"

[–] surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 44 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

They rely on artifacts and art. So yeah, it's quite possible the bow was invented earlier, probably a bunch of times in a bunch of places.

People are smart, but we're smart in pretty regular and repeatable ways.

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

i'd also say there's a difference between people making notches in a stick and tying a piece of string to it, and actually carving a bow and drying it.

Anyone can come up with the idea for and build a simple bow to test their idea, but figuring out how to make a proper bow takes iteration and is an investment.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 4 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

also bowstring is a hell of a lot more sturdy than twine. probably took a lot of different iteration to find the right fiber/gut to use for the string, the right wood, just beyond getting the idea

[–] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 5 points 14 hours ago

Nettle fibres are pretty easy to make into a string that would be suitable for using with a bow. Making a bow is a lot easier than making the perfect bow. It would have been an iterative process, improving over time.

[–] ryedaft@sh.itjust.works 10 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

It just says they were invented in 9k BC. That does exclude them also having been invented in 10k BC.

Edit: *doesn't exclude
Sorry