The zampogna, a double oncia aerophone, is a very old musical instrument. Its origin probably dates from the times of the prehistorie musical instruments (carnix, lur, horness-bells). Organologist say that the zampogna was born at the times when reed digital holes instruments (arundo donax) with an apparatus formed by thin or wood reeds at its extremities widely circulated (ancia).

Everyone knows that in three thousand B.C. in all the mediterranean area particular types of flutes with the aforesaid characteristics were used. These flutes widely circulated in villages and countries while in towns couples of sounding ancia tubes were used. Scholars say that these wind instruments were the "auloi" of the Greeks and the "tibie" of the Romans. These instruments were used till the Middle Ages. Reeds, however, had a big limit: players could not obtain a continuous sound. It was necessary to collect an air tank with sounding reeds. It seems that the first attempts were done in East Asia (Licia). The first zampogna of which we have historical news goes back to the first century after Christ, at the times of Nero. The two famous historians Svetonius and Dion Crisostomus tell that a strange musical instrument played by Nero made with reeds inserted in a sack (leather bottle) which had to be pressed by an arm. That's why in latin it was called "utriculus".

The zampogna had in the course of centuries rather marked evolutions. It depended on the social context where the instrument was used. Some elements of the modern zampogna such as the "bordone" were created in the medieval Age. People think that the zampogna - still living in southern and central Italy - descends from the latin "utriculus", this cannot be said for the medieval and renaissance zampogna such as the "piva" (northern Italy), the "biniou" (France), the "gaita" (Spain) and for the most sophisticated zampognas (northumbrian, cabrette, uillean).