The oldest-known arrows in the world were found in the Ahrensburg valley of Germany, dated back to between 9000 and 8000 BCEthe later Paleolithic era. The arrows were made of pine and had flint points. The Holmegaard bows, the oldest examples of bows yet found, were discovered in Denmark’s Holmegard swamp in the 1940s. The Holmegaard bows are characterized by their parallel limbs with a biconvex midsection, while the tips of the bow end in a point. The dimensions averaged between 150 and 170 cm in length and less than 6 cm wide. The oldest Holmegarard bows found are made out of elm, while later bows of the same model were discovered made out of yew. It’s theorized that these bows were in widespread use until the end of the Bronze Age.The evolution of discovered bows shows that they have become less convex over time. The longbow also evolved over time. These large bows were designed to let the user draw the arrow back a great amount, providing an incredible amount of power. In 1545, the average length of a longbow arrowshaft was about 75 cm30 inches. This represents the English longbow at its peak during the Middle Ages, when it was a primary tool of warfare. The obvious other uses of the longbow were for hunting, and the African elephant bow proved to be very efficient. Other cultures who pioneered the use of the longbow included the Arabs, the Kurds, the Cherokee Native American tribe (and others), the Bari South American tribe (and others), and the Bassa African tribe (and others). In particular, the African tribes were able to use their elephant bows to take down full-grown elephants long before the development of the elephant gun.However, the development of firearms did lead to a decline in the use of the bow and arrow worldwide, although it did survive as a recreational hobby. Modern archery dates back to a few decades after the Civil War, when some veterans wrote about their experiences hunting by longbow while living in the wilds of Georgia. The National Archery Association was formed in 1879, but the real start of the modern appeal of archery can be attributed to Ishi, the last member of the Yahi Indian tribe, who came out of hiding in California in 1911.