The Hadza are a small group of approximately 1,300 hunter-gatherers living in East Africa (Northern Tanzania).1 They are distinct in appearance and language. Genomic comparisons show, for example, that they are more closely related to Europeans than they are to their next door neighbors. It was perhaps their ancestors that most amazingly migrated across the entire non-African world.2 If so, some 6 billion people living today are the direct descendents of the ancient Hadza.
In their oral traditions the Hadza do not lay claim to the invention of the bow-and-arrow. It was in their third epoch that they began to make use of the bow. It was also in their third epoch that long distance trade was established.3 Southern Africa, where the bow was invented, lies adjacent to East Africa.
Hadza bows have a mean draw weight of 70 lbs (95 lbs measured max.). This is far beyond the strength and dexterity of nearly all modern archers who use traditional bows.4 Hadza boys get their first bows around 3 years of age. With endless practice they become experts. By age 5 or 6 they successfully hunt small rodents and birds. As they continue to age their bows get stronger and the game they hunt gets bigger.5
A Neanderthal would have been poorly advantaged against a Hadza expert with a 70 lb bow.
Hadza hunters practicing.
(Photo credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hadzabe1.jpg Author Idobi (Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0).)