The bow of V?RS (Hungary)
By our bow-making meeting held in early July I managed to finish a Hungarian horn bow replicated from grave findings. Hungarian bow means, to me, a bow dated back to the 10th century, which can be reconstructed from archeological finds (i.e. the surviving bone platings). Apart from these findings we don?t have any other points of reference. Recently, thanks to dr L?szl? K?ltő, Museum of Somogy County, I have had the opportunity to thoroughly examine a few finds from the excavations at V?rs. V?rs is a village located at the West corner of Lake Balaton where excavations have been carried out since 1999. At the Majori field almost 400 graves from the second half of the 10th century have been excavated. Arrowheads were found in 15 graves, quiver remains in 6 graves, and there were bone plates of horn bows in only two graves.
The bone plates were measured and their outline was drawn. Their thickness never exceeded 3 mm. The arrowheads were also measured and drawn. On the basis of the finds of grave no. 357, with six arrowheads and the iron hoop at the bottom of the quiver, it can be calculated that these arrows were not drawn over 27˝. The bow of grave no.357 looks rather worn out since its ears were almost in line with the handle. Its owner saw many adversities during his life, as well; he had a healed thigh-bone fracture and a trepanned skull. As for the bone plates there can be seen no signs of wear. The imprints of the bandage, and the scoring on the inner surface for gluing, is clearly visible on the plates.
Both of the remains of the bows excavated show asymmetry but its proportion cannot be determined. I can?t tell either if it is for the subsequent dislocations, or the bows were designed to be asymmetric. One of the bows (the one of grave no 357, V?rs-Majori field) was about 140 cm long nock-to-nock, unbraced. The ear-plate is 25 cm, while the handle-plate is 14 cm long. The width of the ear-plate is 13-17-19 mm from the extreme to the ?elbow? , slightly widening downwards. The nock is 6 mm deep, 7 mm wide circle-section. The angle of the ears to the limbs were between 15-20 degrees. There was a slight reflex at the handle. The arrows belonging to the bow were 70-74 cm long with 4.5 cm long arrowheads, which weigh about 120gr.
Andras
The bone plates were measured and their outline was drawn. Their thickness never exceeded 3 mm. The arrowheads were also measured and drawn. On the basis of the finds of grave no. 357, with six arrowheads and the iron hoop at the bottom of the quiver, it can be calculated that these arrows were not drawn over 27˝. The bow of grave no.357 looks rather worn out since its ears were almost in line with the handle. Its owner saw many adversities during his life, as well; he had a healed thigh-bone fracture and a trepanned skull. As for the bone plates there can be seen no signs of wear. The imprints of the bandage, and the scoring on the inner surface for gluing, is clearly visible on the plates.
Both of the remains of the bows excavated show asymmetry but its proportion cannot be determined. I can?t tell either if it is for the subsequent dislocations, or the bows were designed to be asymmetric. One of the bows (the one of grave no 357, V?rs-Majori field) was about 140 cm long nock-to-nock, unbraced. The ear-plate is 25 cm, while the handle-plate is 14 cm long. The width of the ear-plate is 13-17-19 mm from the extreme to the ?elbow? , slightly widening downwards. The nock is 6 mm deep, 7 mm wide circle-section. The angle of the ears to the limbs were between 15-20 degrees. There was a slight reflex at the handle. The arrows belonging to the bow were 70-74 cm long with 4.5 cm long arrowheads, which weigh about 120gr.
Andras
That looks good. Did you replica with wood-horn-sinew?
Were you able to deduce the draw-weight of the bow?
The arrowheads don't look as if they were specifically for armor-piercing. Were any tests done on material, treatment; penetrability on hard objects, e.g., hardened leather? Could they take an edge?
Were you able to deduce the draw-weight of the bow?
The arrowheads don't look as if they were specifically for armor-piercing. Were any tests done on material, treatment; penetrability on hard objects, e.g., hardened leather? Could they take an edge?
I had the chance to try this bow among others at the Bowmaking weekend.
I think, this event is worthy to be mentioned here - Andras and Sandor Paku were the organizers, they supervised the participants who tried to make a "primitive" bow, and they kindly allowed the others - who didn't dare to carve some wood - to try their horn-wood-sinew composite bows. We were all grateful to Sandor and Andras, and to Zsolt Pucsko, the owner of the valley (close to the lake Balaton), who provided us such a peaceful place. We had a lot of good discussions about the traditions of archery and bowmaking, target and flight shooting, a yurt to stay dry in the Sunday rain, some deer stew and red wine...
We all agreed this event was just the beginning and hopefully next year we'll meet again.
Here are some pictures:
http://www.szip.hu/modules.php?set_albu ... php&page=1
and:
http://www.szip.hu/modules.php?set_albu ... _album.php
Szabi
I think, this event is worthy to be mentioned here - Andras and Sandor Paku were the organizers, they supervised the participants who tried to make a "primitive" bow, and they kindly allowed the others - who didn't dare to carve some wood - to try their horn-wood-sinew composite bows. We were all grateful to Sandor and Andras, and to Zsolt Pucsko, the owner of the valley (close to the lake Balaton), who provided us such a peaceful place. We had a lot of good discussions about the traditions of archery and bowmaking, target and flight shooting, a yurt to stay dry in the Sunday rain, some deer stew and red wine...
We all agreed this event was just the beginning and hopefully next year we'll meet again.
Here are some pictures:
http://www.szip.hu/modules.php?set_albu ... php&page=1
and:
http://www.szip.hu/modules.php?set_albu ... _album.php
Szabi
MJuingong,
yes, it?s a wood-horn-sinew composite.
Unfortunately it?s impossible to deduce the draw weight without thickness data, or intact arrows.
I believe the arrowheads were designed for hunting. No tests were carried out for penetration.
Andras
yes, it?s a wood-horn-sinew composite.
Unfortunately it?s impossible to deduce the draw weight without thickness data, or intact arrows.
I believe the arrowheads were designed for hunting. No tests were carried out for penetration.
Andras
Thank you for the answer.
I think the archaelogical information is very interesting. I wonder if the bows were buried strung? If they were, the limbs would distort over time and eventually the string would break. This would lead to unusual profiles.
The reconstruction is very attractive, but I wonder about the length of the string loops. It is more than likely that long string loops were developed to cope with recurved ears. The modern trend of reconstructing bows without recurved ears has led to the anachronistic use of long-looped strings. The advantage of this practice is that the bows can be braced lower, which improves their efficiency. Stephen acquired an old string (or photographed one) which had short loops and they were wrapped in strips of the skin of a small animal. This would account for the lack of wear on the bone plates of recovered bows.
In the grave where the length of the arrows could be calculated, were estimates of the height of the buried man made? 27 inches is almost to my ear because I am a short man. Iwonder if the early Magyars were also short. Frederick the Great of Prussia had a height rule for his Hussars that they should be 5 foot 4 inches so they really were light cavalry.
The reconstruction is very attractive, but I wonder about the length of the string loops. It is more than likely that long string loops were developed to cope with recurved ears. The modern trend of reconstructing bows without recurved ears has led to the anachronistic use of long-looped strings. The advantage of this practice is that the bows can be braced lower, which improves their efficiency. Stephen acquired an old string (or photographed one) which had short loops and they were wrapped in strips of the skin of a small animal. This would account for the lack of wear on the bone plates of recovered bows.
In the grave where the length of the arrows could be calculated, were estimates of the height of the buried man made? 27 inches is almost to my ear because I am a short man. Iwonder if the early Magyars were also short. Frederick the Great of Prussia had a height rule for his Hussars that they should be 5 foot 4 inches so they really were light cavalry.
I forgot to mention in my previous message: some face reconstructions of the people buried at V?rs are also available:
http://www.nhmus.hu/tarak/embertar/munk ... szrek.html
No. 13. is a Magyar male (alhough not the one buried with this bow), and no. 11. is an Avar leader.
Szabi
http://www.nhmus.hu/tarak/embertar/munk ... szrek.html
No. 13. is a Magyar male (alhough not the one buried with this bow), and no. 11. is an Avar leader.
Szabi
I agree with Bede on the string loops. I have seen similar bows preserved in Xinjiang, with the original strings. The loops were very small. Each loop was covered in mole skin to preserve the string (made of sinew) from the effect of friction.
Are there any articles published on the archaeological finds in English?
Cheers,
Dave
Cheers,
Dave
Very interesting bow. Same question here, has there been any information published on these finds anywhere?