Crossbow typologies

*This article is currently under development.*

A typology, specifically a crossbow typology, is an overview of the known types of crossbows that existed throughout history in various cultures and societies. There is not one single typology, but several inter-related ones, and all of them are based on the study of certain criteria and factors. The following article provides a basic rundown of various typologies used for studying historical and traditional crossbows.

## Crossbow bowstaves and laths by construction

* **Wooden selfbows** -
* **Composite bows / Laminated bows** -
* **Steel bows** -

## Bows by material

* **Wooden materials** -
* **Sinew materials** -
* **Horn and antler materials** -
* **Steel materials** -

## Crossbows by size

* **Light** -
* **Heavy** -

## Crossbows by shape: Cross-section

* **D-shaped bows** -
* **O-shaped bows** -
* **Flatbows** -

## Crossbows bowstaves and laths by shape: Limb-bending mechanics

* **Straight bows** -
* **Recurve bows** - built with limb tips that curve *away from the archer* when the bow is strunge. A recurve bowstave construction allows a greater amount of energy storage in the bowstave, and thus increases the potential kinetic energy and resulting speed of an arrow. Recurve bow construction has been known since ancient times. Historically, recurve bows have been built from a variety of materials.
* **Decurve bows** - built with limbs that curve or curl at their ends, *towards the archer*. This reduces the strain on the bow when it is used. Historically, bows constructed with these bending mechanics in mind were often manufactured by peoples with little access to more quality materials, as a way of creating good quality weapons despite these issues.
* **Reflex bows** - built with limbs that, when not strung with the bowstring, curve or curl *away from the archer*. This type of design allows reflex bows the capability to achieve the same or even greater velocity as much larger bows. Notable historical examples of reflex bow users were the Avar warriors and later the Mongol armies.
* **Deflex bows** - built with limbs that, when not strung with the bowstring, are curved or curled at the base, *towards the archer*. The deflex bowstave design helps reduce the strain on the limbs, as well as the energy stored by the weapon, the energy it can convey to the arrow.

## Crossbows by lock (trigger mechanism)

* **Thumb lever lock** -
* **Rising peg lock** -
* **Three-part roller lock** -
* **Rolling nut lock** -
	+ *Single-axle* -
	+ *Twin-axle* -
* **Six-part lock** -

## Crossbows by spanning method

* Hand-spanned
* Sliding push-rack
* Belt-hook
* Belt-and-pulley
* Goat's foot lever
* Windlass
* Cranequin
* Gaffe lever
* Integrated spanning lever
* Screw-spanning

## Crossbows by ammuniton type

* Bolt-shooting (quarrel-shooting) crossbows
	+ Broadhead bolts
	+ Bodkin bolts
	+ Crescent and pronged bolts
	+ Blunt bolts
* Bullet-shooting crossbows
	+ Pelletbows / Stonebows

## Crossbows by use

* **Hunting bows** - the oldest and initially only purpose of the crossbow as an archery weapon, since antiquity. With the spread of modern firearms, crossbow hunting has become a rarer form of ranged hunting in more recent centuries, even in the most remote and rural areas of the world, but it nevertheless still occurs. Modern bowhunting, using either traditional forms of hunting crossbows or (more commonly) modern forms of hunting crossbows, has also regained some level of popularity in the developed world since the late 1900s.
* **Military bows** - bows with higher to very high poundage, intended for shooting at greater distances, with a large amount of kinetic energy transferred to the arrows. Combat use of crossbows dates back to their first use for combat in ancient Asia, and professional military use of crossbows occured in parts of the world as late as the late 1800s. Though the concerns of military archery have always varied depending on a particular region, culture and era, its main goal has always been to either kill enemy military forces, or to at least inconvenience them (though injuries or intimidation).
* **Training bows** - traditional and historical bows used for training warriors and soldiers. Often lower-poundage versions of Some were also used in certain native cultures as bowhunting training bows.
* **Recreational crossbows** - the most popular bow use in the modern world, where traditional or modern bows are built with a variety of techniques. In the ancient, medieval and early modern world, recreational bows evolved gradually as an offshoot of training bows and some hunting bows. Most early uses of bows for recreational shooting were intertwined with teaching people archery already at an early age, and recreational archery purely for the sake of entertainment became more common only later. Modern sports archery, with modern crossbows, evolved far more recently from traditional recreational archery.