Did archery originate in Brazil

Answer 1

It's Germany according to Answers.com - although Answers.com has been known to be mistaken.

Many different ancient cultures have been found to have developed archery in some form or another, just as with pyramid building. It has been shown, through the use of archaeological evidence, that archery originated in many different cultures, maybe not at the same time as one another, but still while apparently not aware of its existence in other, far-off places. It was extremely difficult, if not impossible, for Ancient Peoples in places such as Germany to sail across entire oceans - and the first Historically Documented instance of a European doing so is that of the "Vikings", more than 800 years after the bow and arrow were developed in North America.

There are some "cave paintings" in a ravine near La Valltorta, in Spain, which are about 6,000 years old (c. 3990 B.C.); the paintings include pictures of archers. There were fragments of two bows found near Sarnate, Latvia, in 1955; these were dated to about 2,700 B.C. There are bows found in Denmark which have been dated as early as 4,600-3,200 B.C. (Tybrind vig), and arrows as early as 8,000 B.C. (Stellmoor). The oldest known arrows are said to have been found near Ahrensburg, Schleswig Holstein, in Germany; the arrows have been dated as early as 8,900 B.C.

The difficulty with finding ancient bows and arrows is the fact that they were made of wood, sinew, feathers and other organic materials. Such materials are not easily preserved, and will decompose when not kept in very specific conditions such as are found in the peat bogs of Denmark and Germany and the extremely arid conditions of the Taklamakan Desert in extreme Western China. Otzi's unfinished bow and arrows (as well as his mummified body) were preserved by the extreme cold and dry conditions of the area he was found in. Stating that archery was first developed in one specific region simply because the oldest surviving bows and/or arrows have been found in that region is misleading.

What is truly interesting is that certain Cultures seem to have never developed the bow and arrow on their own, likely because they did not need them. The "Aborigines" of Australia, which had been isolated from Asia and Europe for hundreds (if not thousands) of years before being "discovered" by Europeans, is one such Culture; they did develop the atlatl, though, just as nearly every Culture that developed the bow and arrow had first used the atlatl (there is s lack of evidence the atlatl was used in Africa - but lack of evidence does not mean it did not happen). The Aborigines still call it a "woomera"; the word "atlatl" is Aztec in origin. (The dart used with the atlatl is basically an overly-long arrow; it often has fletchings, where a spear does not)