A Short History of Hunting

Archeology all over the world confirms that huntingpower, which is perfect for shooting from horse back
implements, that is, weapons, were some of the firstor chariot.
things that we crafted in the ancient history ofAs farming developed, so did civilization and more and
mankind. Flint arrow heads and spear points are somemore often, hunting wild animals was left to experts.
of the most common articles found around the world.The creatures that they killed would be exchanged for
In those ancient times, people hunted for food andother amenities or, later, sold for money.
fought each other. We do not know, but it probableFor the majority of people, hunting became
that men and non-pregnant young women huntedrecreational, a sport or a game and the animals they
animals and gathered fruit, nuts and berries, while thekilled in their spare time they called 'game' and we still
older family members took are of the children.do now in English.
It is uncertain when bows were developed, butMost peoples of the world did not only create
definitely more than two thousand years before Christweapons to hunt with, they also trained animals to help
or four thousand years ago. Earlier than this, huntersthem. Dogs, whose ancestors were wolves, were
almost certainly crept up on or ambushed their preyprobably the first whose help was enlisted. Some dogs
and then ran after it, throwing rocks and pointed stickswere used to recover the gave after it had been shot
or primitive spears perhaps with fire-hardened or stoneand fallen into the undergrowth or the water, other
tips.dogs actually did the killing.
It is unlikely that they often killed their quarry outright,Later still, the upper classes would hunt with no
they probably wore it out until it bled to death. Thisintention of eating the animal at all: foxes in Britain and
method of hunting deer is still practiced by somelions in Afghanistan. This is still done today. Likewise
hunters in South Africa and elsewhere.with falcons and eagles.
As people lived and learned, so more sophisticatedOther animals were trained to help chase prey. Horses
hunting articles were invented and improved on. Theequalized the speed difference between man and
first such item would have been the spear and thebuffalo or deer. Elephants were used to equalize the
second either the throwing arrow or the bow andprowess of tigers and offer a safer platform from
arrow. It is likely that the throwing arrow came first.which to hunt.
This weapon is still used by some traditionalistNowadays, few people have to hunt to survive, but it
Aborigine hunters in Australia.is still a popular pursuit, even though for many it is a
Recurve bows and longbows dating back to 2,000 BConce a year event. The most famous hunting
have been uncovered all over Europe and Asia. Itexpeditions were and still are the safaris, despite the
seems that the longbow was more prevalent in thefact that now more people shoot with video cameras
north and the recurve bow in the south. Recurvethan with guns.
bows can be shorter than longbows and still retain their