Robert,
First, your trigger would be simply pushed back by the rotation of the nut, which would be caused by the bowstring. To hold it in place, you would need another trigger.
Second, similar handles are widely known from the Medieval period. In particular, they were widely used by the Arab crossbows and by later hunting stonebows. The influence of the devices seen on the Gallo-Roman reliefs can be seen clearly in this Moorish crossbow from Granada. Here you can also find depictions of crossbows with similar rear handles, shown on some of the miniatures of Arabic (and other) manuscripts. You can read about stonebows in Ralph Payne-Gallwey.
[attachment=7655]Egon_Harmuth_Die_Armbrust_25.gif[/attachment]
[attachment=7656]Egon_Harmuth_Die_Armbrust_26.gif[/attachment]
Finally, third, all the finds of the three nuts (Buiston Crannog, Southgrove Farm and Carnuntum) and the bone handle (Southgrove Farm), which can be conditionally ascribed to the Roman period, were discovered in the 19th century. Unfortunately, the context and the circumstances of those finds are not entirely clear (even in the case of Max von Groller), and they actually might turn out to belong to the Medieval period. And the handle from Southgrove Farm does not necessarily belong to a crossbow. For example, in the original article of 1894 it was presented as a knife handle.
[attachment=7657]Buiston_Crannog_Ayrshire.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=7659]Southgrove_Farm_Burbage.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=7658]Max_von_Groller_Die_Grabungen_in_Carnuntum_1909.jpg[/attachment]
First, your trigger would be simply pushed back by the rotation of the nut, which would be caused by the bowstring. To hold it in place, you would need another trigger.
Second, similar handles are widely known from the Medieval period. In particular, they were widely used by the Arab crossbows and by later hunting stonebows. The influence of the devices seen on the Gallo-Roman reliefs can be seen clearly in this Moorish crossbow from Granada. Here you can also find depictions of crossbows with similar rear handles, shown on some of the miniatures of Arabic (and other) manuscripts. You can read about stonebows in Ralph Payne-Gallwey.
[attachment=7655]Egon_Harmuth_Die_Armbrust_25.gif[/attachment]
[attachment=7656]Egon_Harmuth_Die_Armbrust_26.gif[/attachment]
Finally, third, all the finds of the three nuts (Buiston Crannog, Southgrove Farm and Carnuntum) and the bone handle (Southgrove Farm), which can be conditionally ascribed to the Roman period, were discovered in the 19th century. Unfortunately, the context and the circumstances of those finds are not entirely clear (even in the case of Max von Groller), and they actually might turn out to belong to the Medieval period. And the handle from Southgrove Farm does not necessarily belong to a crossbow. For example, in the original article of 1894 it was presented as a knife handle.
[attachment=7657]Buiston_Crannog_Ayrshire.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=7659]Southgrove_Farm_Burbage.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=7658]Max_von_Groller_Die_Grabungen_in_Carnuntum_1909.jpg[/attachment]
Ildar Kayumov
XLegio Forum (in Russian)
XLegio Forum (in Russian)
