The bow seems to have been invented in the late Palaeolithic or early Mesolithic. The oldest indication for its use in Europe come from Stellmoor in the Ahrensburg valley north of Hamburg, Germany and date from the late Palaeolithic Hamburgian culture (9000-8000 BC). The arrows were made of pine-wood and consisted of a main-shaft and a 15-20 cm (6-8 inches) long fore-shaft with a flint point.

The oldest bows known so far come from the Holmegård swamp in Denmark. In the 1940s, two bows were found there. They are made of elm-wood and have flat arms and a D-shaped midsection. The middle part is biconvex. The complete bow is 1.50 m (5 ft.) long. Bows of Holmegaard-type were in use untill the Bronze Age; the convexity of the midsection decreases through time.

Mesolithic arrows have been found in England, Germany, Denmark and Sweden. They were often rather long (up to 120 cm [4 ft.]) and made of hazel (Corylus avellana), wayfaring tree (Viburnum lantana) and chokecherry (Cornus alba). Some still have flint arrow-heads preserved; others have blunt wooden ends for hunting birds and small game. The ends show traces of fletching, which was fastened on with birch-tar.

Most Neolithic bows are made of yew. Ötzi the Iceman found in the Ötztaler Alps carried an unfinished yew longbow, with a bowstring of nettle or flax fibre.

In the Levant, arrow-shaft straighteners are known from the Natufian culture, ca. 12.800-10.300 BP) onwards. The Khiamian and PPN A shouldered Khiam-points are most certainly arrowheads.

The bow became the main weapon of war used in the Middle East by the Assyrians and Egyptians, who fired it from warriors on chariots to great effect. The Greeks and Romans did not find this technique useful. Advances in armor made the bow less effective and the both often campaigned in hilly or forest areas that were unsuited to chariots. The development of horse archers by the people of the Eurasian Steppe, brought the bow back to the fore. Using composite bows, Steppe peoples such as the Huns and Mongols became a dominant force.

In the Middle Ages, the longbow was developed. It was an extremely effective weapon in battle and could penetrate armor from a considerable distance. The longbow however is a difficult weapon to master and requires years of training. In Medieval England and Wales, the longbow became a popular weapon and archery a popular pastime. English monarchs went so far as to mandate by law longbow training for males of military age, and placed restrictions on other physical sports such as football and ninepins so that people would practice archery.

In other countries where archery was not a popular pastime or military skills were not encouraged, the crossbow was used. It was slow to reload, but easier to use than a longbow and just as devastating.

The development of gunpowder, muskets and the growing size of armies slowly led to the replacement of bows as a weapon of war, causing them to be relegated to sport and hobby. See archery for the modern sport of firing bows. Crossbows still have some use by special forces due to their silence when compared with guns.

Bows are found all over the world, except for Australia where the main projectiule weapons were spears and boomerangs.