Archery, or the use of bow and arrows, was probably developed in Africa by the later Middle Stone Age. It is documented as part of warfare and hunting from the classical period until the end of the 19th century, when it was made obsolete by the invention and spread of repeating firearms.
Longbowmen archers of the Middle Ages.
Archers with recurve bows and short spears, detail from the archers' frieze in Palace of Darius I in Susa. Siliceous glazed bricks, c. 510 BC.
Ta-Seti (uppermost) at the "White Chapel" in Karnak.
Archer wearing feather headdress. Alabaster. From Nineveh, Iraq. Reign of Ashurbanipal II, 668–627 BC. The Burrell Collection, Glasgow, UK.
Fa Hien Cave, also Pahiyangala Cave, is situated in the district of Kalutara, Western Province, Sri Lanka and according to a rural legend, named after an alleged resident during historical times, namely Buddhist monk Faxian. However, there is no archaeological or historical evidence to support this legend. Nonetheless, the site is of archaeological significance as Late Pleistocene human fossilized skeletal remains were discovered in the cave's sediments during excavations in the 1960s, the 1980s and in 2013. This is the largest natural stone cave in South Asia. 3500 people can stay here at the same time. To see the size of the cave, you have to go inside and look outside. Prehistoric humans have lived here for 35000-60000 years.They used sea fish, salt, and shark teeth as ornaments. This limestone was formed by corrosion over hundreds of thousands of years.
remote view
The cave entry
Pahiyangala archaeological site
Aerial view