THE HISTORY OF THE CROSSBOW, ILLUSTRATED 

 FROM SPECIMENS IN THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL 

 MUSEUM 



By C. Martin Wilbur 

 Curator of Sinology, Field Museum of Natural History 



[With 6 plates] 



A study of the crossbows in tlie United States National Museum 

 suggests a problem of real ethnological interest. The crossbow ap- 

 pears to be another example of those remarkable Chinese inven- 

 tions — such as silk, paper, printing, and gunpowder — wdiich have 

 spread over a large part of the globe and in several regions altered 

 the course of history. The earliest mention of it occurs in Chinese 

 texts dating from the third century B. C. It was extensively used 

 as a military weapon by the Chinese several centuries before it was 

 adopted by the Roman army. In Europe from the thirteenth to the 

 sixteenth century it was the outstanding projectile weapon in all con- 

 tinental armies, and it materially aided the Spaniards in the conquest 

 of Mexico, and De Soto in his discovery of the Mississippi. The 

 crossbow is still extensively used by primitive peoples in southeastern 

 Asia, and it even found its w^ay into a small region in west Africa 

 and among the Eskimo of Greenland and Alaska. This paper aims 

 to describe the history and distribution of the crossbow as it is 

 illustrated by the varied collection of both primitive and highly 

 developed specimens in the United States National Museum.^ 



DESCRIPTION OF THE CROSSBOW 



A crossbow is a projectile weapon equipped with a bow, but having 

 in addition a stock set at right angles to the bow, and a string-catch 

 which holds the bowstring in a drawn position until the weapon 

 is shot. These three parts are all essential, but variations occur in 

 each. For example, primitive people use a simple wooden bow 

 (pi. 1) ; a more advanced stage is the compound bow of horn, sinew. 



* This study was made possible by a fellowship in 1935-36 from The Social Science 

 Research Council for an ethnological study of Chinese history. I am especially indebted 

 to Dr. C. W. Bishop, associate curator of the Freer Gallery of Art, for his help and gen- 

 erosity at every turn. A longer monograph, fully documented, on the early history and 

 distribution of the crossbow is in preparation. Therefore, in the present general 

 account lengthy footnotes and minute bibliographical data have been omitted wherever 

 possible. 



427 



