Kaşık Oyunları

Kaşık Oyunları is a wooden spoon dance from Turkish Anatolia. The history is unclear, as there is much oral history but little evidence in pictures and documents. Depending on the region, it was done in groups in a circle. However, women were not always allowed. The earliest reference to dancing with wooden spoons I have found is in the works of Fredrik Hasselquist in the 18th century-

He was dressed in a short jacket was bare footed and looked like a Turkish soldier. He held in each hand two wooden spoons. Thus accoutred he skipped about the middle of the room and moved his head and arms as much as his feet at the fame often bending his body backwards forwards and sideways. He held the spoons two in each in such a manner between his fingers that he could frequently strike them together which with the rough music made a noise no ways agreeable to ears.

The full entry can be seen at Voyages and Travels in the Levant in the Years 1749, 50, 51, 52 by Fredrik Hasselquist. If anyone has any other references, please let me know!
Recommended reading
Spoon Dance In The Hippocampus
Turkish Dance & Styles on Les Arts Turcs Tours.
Dances of the “Roma” Gypsy Trail From Rajastan to Spain: Balkan “”Cocek”" by Miriam Peretz. From the Dom Research Centre.
A Pictorial History of Turkish Dancing:
From Folk Dancing to Whirling Dervishes, Belly Dancing to Ballet by Metin And.

Turkish bows

This picture was taken from Wikimedia Commons.The picture is late 16th century. The bow is a recurve composite bow, with a core of wood, horn on the archer-side on the outside and sinew on the back.This picture is taken from Wikimedia Commons. This bow is in the Higgins Armoury Museum, showing also the quiver that would hold the bow strung and the arrows. It is from the 17th century, but there are others in the collection of the Museum. Archers would use a thumb ring, called a zihgir, which was eventually worn off the battlefield and came to symbolise the person was a warrior.The picture is of Selim II, known as “The Blond Selim”. The ring on his thumb can be seen on his hand in the air.
Bibliography
Turkish Tradition Archery Part I by Murat Özveri, DDS, PhD. From Turkish Cultural Foundation.
Turkish Traditional Archery Part II by Murat Özveri, DDS, PhD.
Turkish Flight Archery. This is a blog that has many articles on Turkish Archery, including how to make a thumb ring.
Thumb Ring Build-A-Long Using Dental Laboratory Techniques by Dr. Murat Özveri. From Tirendaz- Turkish Archery website.
Ottoman bows- an assessment of draw weight, performance and tactical use by Adam Karpowicz. He has also written a book about how to make an Ottoman bow and can be purchased here.
Recurve Composite Bow- a discussion forum covering Ottoman bows. From cRPG Forum.