I’m currently searching for primary evidence images for the ways in which mounted archers carried their arrows for rapid shooting techniques. There are three principal methods – taking arrows directly from the quiver, holding a number of arrows in the draw-hand ( this is easily done with a thumb-draw technique, which leaves three fingers available for holding arrows) and holding a bunch of arrows in the bow-hand. It is this last method that I am most interested in at the moment. The first image posted here is of a terracotta plaque featuring a Parthian mounted archer. In this low res image taken from the internet, the arrows in the bow-hand are not well defined but they can be seen clearly in this b&w photo of the same object: books.google/books?id=SIKuW_bl6LAC&pg=PA580&lpg=PA580&dq=mounted+archer+berlin&source=bl&ots=TCPssgaddG&sig=UqDSJc_Wu8hSNn64s2SpFziUHko&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gQPtU72rMdXioATk-YLoAg&ved=0CF0Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=mounted%20archer%20berlin&f=false Most internet sources state that the original is in the collections of the Staatsliche Museum in Berlin. However according to Wikipedia (from where this image is taken) the original is in the Palazzo Madama in Turin. Can anyone who has seen this in situ please confirm where it is please? The second image is of a tombstone in the Landesmuseum, Mainz. According to the inscription, it represents a mounted archer named Maris, son of Casitus. Maris, along with his brothers, Masicates and Tigranus, was a member of a Squadron of Parthians and Arabs in the service of Rome. He clearly has a fistful of arrows in his bow-hand. I also like the pedestrian figure, who appears to be handing out handfuls of arrows. Imagine a swirling loop of horsemen attacking a position – as they circled back towards their own lines they would pass, still at the gallop, a supply station where they would grab another clutch of shafts. A key element of mounted archery is the ability to shoot very rapidly. In such circumstances arrow re-supply becomes a crucial factor. Does anyone know of any other images that show mounted archers carrying arrows in the bow-hand? It is interesting that these two figures are both of Parthians. We are all familiar with the term ‘Parthian shot’ , which refers to mounted archers shooting rearwards over their left shoulder. However the so-called Parthian shot is ubiquitous in ALL mounted archery cultures and not exclusively Parthian at all. I am hoping that I will find more images of arroiws being carried in the bow-hand – by other cultures – but at the moment it is looking as though this is a distinctively Parthian method – perhaps we should talk more of the ‘Parthian carry’ than of the Parthian shot. Carrying arrows in the bow-hand is favoured by a great many modern mounted archers – I favour it myself. It is certainly a very efficient method for enabling rapid nocking. This is critical on modern horse-archery courses, which require you to be able to shoot at least 3 – 5 arrows and hit the target in the space of around 10 - 12 seconds. The best people are even faster than that! There is seldom a week in which I don’t get a message/e-mail asking if I have seen the speed shooting of Lars Andersen on You Tube and what do I think of it. Well what I think is that he is extremely impressive and very good at what he does. However what he does is NOT military archery, NOR is it a historical archery method. He is a trick-shooter – a very good trick shooter but that is all. He barely draws the bow back to halfway and appears to be using a bow of very light draw weight. These two factors alone remove him from the battlefield and place him firmly in the circus ring. That is not to take anything away from him – I like clever tricks – merely to give what he does some historical perspective. There is also a trend amongst some modern horse-archers to hold up to a dozen arrows in the bow-hand. The martial imperative to be able to shoot rapidly has become so over-exaggerated in the quest for high scores on the competition track that it risks losing its roots. In modern mounted archery, the archer gallops down a track and shoots at targets at intervals along the track. Clearly there is a score advantage in getting as many arrows into the targets as possible – and although there are time limits, there are also advantages in having a slower horse, which enables more arrows to be shot in the time. Again I have immense respect for the skill of these archers – Kassai Lajos in Hungary is a leading proponent of this method and he is clearly brilliant at what he does. In his case there is also no doubt that he has the ability to be a mounted archer of military effectiveness. However at the moment he and his followers choose to pursue this, to my mind rather gimmicky, practice of maximizing the number of arrows they can shoot. The problem, for me, with this method is that it becomes trick shooting and I consider mounted archery a martial art. In order to carry twelve arrows in the bow-hand, these archers thread and weave small clusters of shafts between each of their fingers- once they have done so they have the appearance of having plunged their hand into a bowl of spaghetti and lifted it out again. Firstly it takes them quite a bit of time to set-up the arrangement – hardly practical on the battlefield – and secondly it severely restricts the draw-weight of the bow it would be possible to use – in fact it needs to be only about 30lbs. Most mounted archers shoot relatively lightweight bows – it is significantly harder to draw a heavy bow on horseback. I shoot lightweights on horseback myself – I have shot 50lb plus from horseback and plan to again but am currently shooting less (32lb) because of some back issues, old age and being out of practice with heavier bows. However the limitation is where I am with my training, not what would be possible, whereas with the spaghetti-hand approach, the limitation is in the technique. These two images of Parthians with arrows in the bow-hand prove that arrows in the bow-hand is a genuine historical technique but that there is a limit to how many arrows would be practical and of martial effectiveness. That will depend on the size of the hand and individual strength to some extent but I would suggest that five is probably the maximum anyone should use and, for heavier bows, even fewer. If anyone knows of other references to arrows being carried in the bow-hand, I’d be very grateful if they would share with me.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 19:45:44 +0000