Roger Ascham, 1500s archery expert and author of ‘Toxophilus: The Schole or Partitions of Shootinge’, had the following opinion on arrowheads: ‘Our English heads be better in war than either forked heads or broad arrowheads.  For first, the end being lighter, they fly a great deal the faster, and, by the same reason, giveth a far sorer stripe [hit or wound].’  By the time that Toxophilus was published, recreational archery was becoming far more popular, so Ascham went on to describe the different types of arrowhead available for that purpose: sharp or blunt-pointed and sometimes with a ridge so that the archer could tell that the arrow had been drawn fully.

The arrowhead in the picture is European and dates to 1400-1499.

Image reproduced by kind permission of the Royal Armouries.