This is an advance summary of a forthcoming article in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology. Please check back later for the full article.
The musical bow is speculated to have been discovered as a result of hunting, after a musical tone was heard from the vibrating string seconds after releasing the arrow. Some consider it the first musical instrument of the Bushman. A musical bow is an instrument that is made of a wooden stave that has a string attached to both ends of the stave, as well as, typically, a resonator. The musical bow belongs to the chordophone family, which comprises musical instruments that produce sound through the vibration of strings. Musical bows occur in southern African rock art specifically from South Africa and Namibia. In South Africa they are found in the Maloti Drakensberg massif, in the KwaZulu-Natal region, and in Maclear District in the Eastern Cape Province, whereas in Namibia they are found around the Daureb region. The occurrence of musical bows in the rock art of southern Africa hints at some of the musical instruments that were used during the Holocene period in the region. Their use as musical instruments is well documented ethnographically, and they are still used even today.