Whether you are a crossbow enthusiast, a survivalist, or a history buff, you'll appreciate seeing the construction of this survival crossbow.

As a history teacher, one of my absolute favorite time periods to study is the Stone Age. This immense portion of human history can teach us so much about what being a human is all about. If you figure around 96% of our history occurred before the first crop seeds were sown 8,000 years ago, it's easy to see that many lessons about life can be learned from it. One aspect of the Stone Age that is so interesting is the bushcraft side of it. Living on the bounty of the land was just what people did for around 190,000 years. Finding food, preparing hides for clothing, and ensuring they had the proper materials for fire would have been as routine as a run to the grocery store or turning up the thermostat. These survival skills were just part of everyday life.Another skill Paleo people would have become adept at was weapon building. The earliest know weapons are thought to be crude spears. Not much more than sharpened sticks really. As time marched on though, humans began to create more and more advanced weaponry. Eventually this would culminate with the construction of the first bow and arrow. Fairly recently the crossbow would arrive on the scene, an invention believe to be developed in China about 700 BC. Although this puts the invention of the crossbow out of the Stone Age, it really doesn't take anything but Stone Age tools and skills to construct one. Watch this video capturing the construction of a survival crossbow. https://youtu.be/eTuzEFQNSU4 As you can see the survival crossbow is a very basic hunting tool. I would have liked to see the effectiveness of the device once his arrows were built. It surely appeared to have the necessary capabilities if you were in a pinch. [caption id="attachment_6491" align="alignleft" width="138"] Even basic recurve crossbows like this are actually high end technology.[/caption] Another reason why studying the Stone Age is so important for people today, is because it allows us to appreciate all the technology that saturates our lives. When compared to this survival crossbow, even the most basic recurve crossbow is a much more efficient weapon. Add in cams, scopes, trigger systems, and all the other precision technology of the most advanced crossbows, and you can see just how much human ingenuity has gone into their construction. Sometimes the best way to learn about anything is to strip it down to its core. You want to learn about motors? Take one apart. You want to get out of financial trouble? Make a budget. You want to understand how humans were able to live off nature's bounty for 200,000 years? Make primitive tools and weapons like this survival crossbow. You'll not only end up with an appreciation of your history, but you'll have a capable hunting tool as well.

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