An exhaustive study on the origins of the bow and of early bowed chordophones by Bachmann (1964) has brought together much new material and filled in many a gap in our sparse knowledge of the first centuries of their existence. The following pages draw heavily on this material for the early period.
When the bow reached Europe it was applied to chordophones already in existence there; some that had been plucked in the past were now played in the new way,...