Historians admittedly do not know by whom, where or when the bow and arrow were invented; origins are covered by the mists of time. Historians face the same problem when it comes to the invention of the crossbow, the true story probably will never be known. But we have some clues and writings to indicate that the invention may be at least 2000 years old, probably much more. Much of the development and refinement of the crossbow took place in what is now Italy, which came to be the centre for crossbow warriors. It's easy to imagine an intelligent soldier of the times, viewing the hand-held bow and arrow in use, figuring out how to build and use a much more powerful bow by mounting it atop of stick or wooden stock.