History of Crossbows - Africa and In The Americas

Africa and In The Americas

In Central Africa simple crossbows were used for hunting and as a scout weapon, previously thought to have been first introduced by the Portuguese. Until recently they were especially in use by different tribes of the pygmy-people, usually with poisoned and relatively small arrows. This silent technique of hunting in the tropical forest is quiet similar to that of the South American indigenous hunting method with blow pipe and poisoned arrows. It makes sure not to startle up the prey, fe. if a first shot goes astray. And because the small arrow is rarely deadly itself, the animal just drops of the trees after some time because of the poisoning. In the American south, the crossbow was used by the conquistadores for hunting when firearms or gunpowder were unavailable because of economic hardships or isolation. Light hunting crossbows were traditionally used by the Inuit in Northern America.