came into use in the Western world at approximately the same time ( 1480) and co-existed for many centuries. That being said, during the Renaissance and early Baroque eras, the two families had different uses, and in particular, different social standings. Viols were primarily household instruments, played by well-to-do, educated members of society, as a pleasant and cultured way of passing time. In contrast, violin family instruments were primarily used for social functions, performed on by professional players. During this 'early' period, the largest member of the violin family in common use was a cello-sized instrument, but quite often tuned a whole step lower than the modern cello (B1–F2–C3–G3). This is not to say that there were no larger sized violoni described in the violin family at that time, it's just that descriptions of those larger basses are fewer, and there are many different tunings possible. Also, at this early period, there was minimal need for an instrument that would function at 16′ doubling an 8′ bass line. Human-sized members of the violin family were at first used primarily for dramatic effect in operas (and other dramatic works), and later for similar dramatic effect in concerto grosso type 'orchestral' settings. In contrast, large members of the viol family were much more common, and used from earliest times, playing their lines at 8′ pitch. There is much evidence to show that Renaissance viol consorts were made of many large-bodied instruments. Great bass viols (with both A and G tunings) are described in numerous treatises, and there is a lot of solo and chamber music that necessitates their use because of its low compass. Some of this music is extremely virtuosic in nature (the viola bastarda pieces by Vincenzo Bonizzi, for example, exploit a octave range). It's also clear that both women and men played instruments of this size – the preface to Bonizzi's 1626 collection is dedicated to the three daughters of his Ferrarese patron, for example, and there are also numerous paintings that depict women playing very large viol family instruments. A technological advance occurred in the 1660s, centred in Bologna. This was the invention of wound ("overspun" or "overwound") strings. For bass instruments, this was important, because it meant one could now obtain good sounding low strings (that were not thick and rope-like in diameter) without having an excessively long string length. This was also when the term "violoncello"