Making a very Primitive Bow

[OTDEAN]

Ash makes a good longbow if heat treated and the moisture level kept low.

[PierreZFP]

Hazel would seem to be the way to go then.   I will go and look for somel but it will have to wait for the weekend.  If I don't see anything suitable I am visiting Northern France next week and I know I have some there.
Thanks for all the info.

[Del the cat]

This Hazel bow is probably a reasonable approximation.
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,52299.0.html
Del

[WillS]

If you're going to Northern France get your hands on some Yew!!! It's abundant throughout France and is both the original material for Otzis bow, plus far easier to work with and far more forgiving for beginners.

[PierreZFP]

Ah yes!  I hadn't thought of that 
Did you know that Yew is called If in French ?  Actually it's spelt Yf in old French

[GlisGlis]

That theory is more or less disproved by now.  There's no reason for a primitive hunter to be on a mountain with a quiver of arrows and a chunk of wood carefully protected and sealed in animal blood if it wasn't a working bow

There are many obscure points
the blessure in the Otzi right hand could be the cause of blood on kinfe, bow and axle handles
the blood on the arrow is from the point up for about 30 cm - 11,8'' and may be due to a precendent hunt use.
A usable string for the bow was never found and the arrows are mainly just shaft
the complete arrows have differents lenght and apparently were fletched by different mans

As for the movie
I understand the low (or no) budget issue but I'll try to respect at least some basic appearance and point of the ice man if you want to spend his name
As a primitive life and Otzi fan I'd be interested in a movie (even a fictionalized version) but I'll expect to find some consistence with the fact of that historical time

[joachimM]

I would still go for hazel:
1) it grows everywhere in N-France, Luxemburg, Belgium, ... much easier to find good staves than yew, even in N-France.
2) Every decent hazel bush has a handful of pipe-straight staves from 2 to 10 cm diameter in length and 2 m long. Collect a dozen staves (now is not the best time, actually, even though it is diffuse-porous wood... but at least it less risky than ring-porous species like ash)
3) Hazel is easy wood to work with hand tools (if it isn't spiral grained... many staves are, therefore collect more than one)
4) messing up a few good hazel staves is good practice. Messing up a few good yew staves is a pity...

As for Otzi's bow: a few archery gurus shed their light on whether or not this was a functional bow rather than work in progress:
their conclusion, based on mathematical modelling as well comparison with other bows, indicates that it would break if drawn to a regular length, and would draw 150# at 26".
See http://www.primitiveways.com/Otzi%27s_bow.html

If you need help from a nearby bowyer, I'm only 200 km NW of you :-)
To American standards, I live in your backyard

Joachim

[paco664]

there are some wild speculations in that article about human strength and ability...   specifically that otzi only being 5'3 and not heavily muscled would have been incapable of pulling a heavy weight bow...

that is ridiculous... in the last 30years of working and being in gyms weightlifting i have seen bunches and bunches of "little" guys who were strong as beasts... 

and i have a very close personal friend from back home in louisiana who was 5'3 on a day when he really stretched well and held strength records in every weight class from 132-154 pounds...  including a at the time 357# bench at 135# bodyweight...

[WillS]

Yeah in all honesty the idea that Otzi's bow wasn't finished is ridiculous as far as I'm concerned.  If we completely ignore the theories about man's strength in that overly-biased article (I know plenty of small guys who can draw 150# bows - it's technique and strength not size that counts) there is no sensible, logical reason for it to have NOT been a working bow. 

That article is just like all the others that came out regarding the MR bows.  I'm sure we've all read Pip Bickerstaffe's published books about them, stating with complete authority and confidence that no natural fibre string in the world could withstand a draw weight over 100lbs.  We know as a certain fact through evidence and testing that it's not true.

No primitive hunter wanders into the mountains with a quiver of arrows (who cares if they were fletched by different people? They're still arrows!) and a bow stave that doesn't work.  It's daft.  The bow was tapered, carefully finished with tiny tool marks that certainly aren't roughing-out marks, the tips are small and well formed and the whole bow is coated in blood to protect and seal it.

Why go to ANY of that trouble for an unfinished bow stave?

[PierreZFP]

Well, I will try and collect several staves of various woods as as I'm sure my first attempt will be rubbish (and the second...and the tenth ...)  so I can hopefully produce something half decent eventually.
As for authenticity, Otzi is not the main character in the story although it is set at that time.  The purpose of the short trailer is to give a flavour of the time (the actors are speaking English for heaven's sake) in order to interest a publisher.  If it ever came to the big screen then I would hope everything to be spot on as you say to respect his name.
joachimM I think that 200Km NW of me would put you near Mons?  I drive past there on the E19 fairly regularly on my way to Pas-de-Calais

[OTDEAN]

I think it was an unfinished bow stave.  Its well documented that Native Americans had several bow staves on the go in case their useable bow was damaged.  Does not seem ridiculous at all that a stone age man in Europe would have a spare half finished bow with him that he would work on when he had the time.  If stone age man did it in North America I can understand the practicality of having a half finished bow stave in Europe.  After all, if your useable tackle breaks, having a standby half finished hunting tool means you can eat meat sooner.