Animating: The Bow & Arrow

Surrounding the bow and arrow, there is a shroud of mystery. When, exactly, was it first created? A mystery that has bothered me also, for I would like to depict the earliest, if not the first, likeness within my animation. If I had been around 64-8000 BC I would not have this problem. Regardless, I have ended up going for a slightly generic depiction.

http://imnh.isu.edu

I quite liked how this one's bow string is tied. However, it is quite recent, dated as being adopted in southern Idaho around 500 AD. Most early arrows wouldn't have had any kind of fletching, either.

http://www.10millionmiles.com/

  

I like that this one has no fletching on the arrow, as well as how rough and plain the bow itself is. However, I don't know if this is just a made up drawing as the site it was uploaded from is inaccessible.

After some searching, I also looked at some arrow heads, but decided these were too advanced...

I think something closer to this would have been far more likely.

http://de.wikipedia.org