Is Australian Flora Unsuitable for the Bow-and-Arrow?

Abstract

The bow-and-arrow was not manufactured or widely used by Indigenous Peoples within the Australian continent, and the suitability of woody Australian plant species for constructing bows is poorly understood. The mechanical and physical properties of 326 plant species, including species highly suitable for self-bows and 106 native Australian species, were analyzed and compared using principal component analysis. Additionally, qualitative information regarding the use of Australian woods for bows was obtained from bow-making internet forums. The results suggest that Australian woods have combinations of properties that make them sub-optimal for bows compared to common woods from other parts of the world. The findings may explain the historical absence of bow-and-arrow technology on the Australian continent. Future work is needed to collect data from a broader range of woody Australian species, along with empirical research to assess the suitability of Australian woods for bow-making. The work also demonstrates, for the first time, that principal component analysis is a useful technique for exploring the suitability of woods for self-bows and should be investigated further for this purpose.