A year ago I had the chance to stop in at the home of Easton; you know, the arrow people. I’ve long been a fan of the late Doug Easton’s contributions to archery and bowhunting, and it’s been great to see his son, Jim, and grandson, Greg, continue their commitment to all things archery and the future of the sport we all enjoy.

Seeing a tube of aluminum being precisely stretched to unthinkable lengths to form arrow shaft material, and seeing bundles of carbon and aluminum shafts the size of refrigerators were impressive enough, but what really took me was Jim Easton’s collection of archery artifacts.

At the time I happened to be there, the bow and arrow related relics were being cataloged and organized in a new library and the sight of some of the original books and other antiquities really gave me goose bumps. This is undoubtedly the largest collection of archery books, photographs and artifacts in the world and I’m sure few have ever heard of its existence.

These aren’t just Native American arrowheads we’re talking about, this is worldly stuff, that goes back to some of archery’s earliest days on Earth: bows, arrows, arrowheads and ancient writings.

The collections includes “Toxophilus”, one of the oldest archery books and one of the oldest books in print, more than 450 years old. It also includes Bronze arrow points from the Terracotta Army dig (20 B.C.), arrowheads believed to be from the Han Dynasty in China (as early as 206 B.C.) wood arrows used by Qing Dynasty palace guards and arrowheads from Persia that date back to near 500 B.C.

Thumb rings also make up part of the collection. For someone who grew up with a recurve bow, the thumb ring interests me. Many Asian cultures used this technique commonly referred to as the Mongolian release. The string is placed against the web of the hand between the thumb and forefinger, then drawn by the flexed thumb, using the end of the forefinger to assist in holding the thumb in position. This draw technique necessitates the use of a thumb guard or “thumb ring” to accept the pressure of the string. Open the thumb and away goes the string.

But I digress. Easton’s collection, part of their Sports Development Foundation, also includes more than 1,000 archery-related books, some 30,000 photographs, videotape from major archery events from around the world and more than 5,000 archery magazines and articles. Did I mention ancient Turkish, Chinese and Korean bows? Wild stuff.

And, because through donations and the collecting efforts of Jim Easton himself this vast array of artifacts is being housed in one place, future researchers of the art and sport of archery won’t have to go digging in corners around the world to get a glimpse into this most ancient, as well as contemporary, form.

On a related note, just yesterday I missed a 3-D target and lost my Full Metal Jacket arrow with its carbon/aluminum shaft, HIT insert technology, high-strength plastic nock and RPS nickel screw-in point. When I couldn’t find it, I figured I’d just donated my own bit of personal history to some future anthropologist who might be searching for artifacts from the Easton Dynasty.