Short answers, pulled from the story.
Archaeologists uncovered likely arrowheads in South African sites such as Sibudu Cave dating from approximately 72,000 to 60,000 years ago. These artifacts suggest humans used bows and arrows for hunting long before recorded history began.
The elm Holmegaard bows from Denmark are dated to 9,000 BCE and represent the oldest extant bows in one piece. Several other bows from that same Danish site date back 8,000 years.
Organized warfare with bows ended in Western Europe between the early and mid-17th centuries after gunpowder became widespread in the 16th century. This practice persisted into the 19th century in Eastern cultures including the New World and remained in use until the end of the 20th century in the Canadian Arctic for hunting caribou at Igloolik.
Classic composite bows use wood for lightness and dimensional stability in the core while incorporating horn to store compression energy and sinew for its ability to store energy in tension. Such Asian bows often feature a stiff end on the limb known by the Arabic name siyah.
Sir Ashton Lever formed the Toxophilite Society in London in 1781 under the patronage of George IV. The British upper class initiated this revival of archery as a sport in the late 18th century which evolved into global athletics today.