16123
W. Britain
This Native Warrior carries a recurve bow. It differs from the straight-limbed bow in that its limbs curve away from the archer when unstrung. A recurve bow stores more energy and delivers it more efficiently than the equivalent straight-limbed bow, giving a greater amount of punch and speed to the arrow. A recurve is shorter than the simple straight-limb bow and was often preferred by archers in environments where long weapons could be cumbersome, such as the densely forested terrain of Eastern North America. Arrow shafts were usually made from ash and birch with arrowheads made out of felsite or rhyolite. These stones were hard, kept a sharp point when knapped, and abundant in that region of the country.