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21st-century hunting compound crossbow. A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an elastic launching device consisting of a bow-like assembly called a prod, mounted horizontally on a main frame called a tiller, which is hand-held in a similar fashion to the stock of a long gun. Crossbows shoot arrow-like projectiles called bolts or quarrels.
Crossbow, Qin dynasty It is not clear where and when the crossbow originated, but it is believed to have appeared in China and Europe around the 7th to 5th centuries BC. In China the crossbow was one of the primary military weapons from the Warring States period until the end of the Han dynasty, when armies were composed of up to 30 to 50 percent crossbowmen.
The bow's primary purpose was to shoot birds, as conventional weapons lacked the ability to effectively hunt flying prey. [5] The lighter projectiles from a pellet bow flew faster, so the shooter had a better chance of hitting a moving target. One of the most important changes to the bullet-shooting crossbow was the strong, upwardly curved bow. [5]
The arbalest (also arblast), a variation of the crossbow, came into use in Europe around the 12th century. [1] The arbalest was a large weapon with a steel prod, or bow assembly. Since the arbalest was much larger than earlier crossbows, and because of the greater tensile strength of steel, it had a greater force.
The Volunteer State nickname goes way back in American history. Here are the origins of the Vols.
Old Japanese weapons and other military paraphernalia, c. 1892–95 A Gilbertese shark-toothed weapon (late 19th century). Major innovations in the history of weapons have included the adoption of different materials – from stone and wood to different metals, and modern synthetic materials such as plastics – and the developments of different weapon styles either to fit the terrain or to ...
The early ballistae in Ancient Greece were developed from two weapons called oxybeles and gastraphetes. The gastraphetes ('belly-bow') was a handheld crossbow. It had a composite prod and was spanned by bracing the front end of the weapon against the ground while placing the end of a slider mechanism against the stomach.
'belly-releaser'), also called belly bow or belly shooter, was a hand-held crossbow used by the Ancient Greeks. [1] It was described in the 1st century by the Greek author Heron of Alexandria in his work Belopoeica , which draws on an earlier account of the famous Greek engineer Ctesibius ( fl. 285–222 BC).