History of pole vaults This comment was placed in the article by 98 84 127 198 OK you just said pole vaulting originated in Europe in the 19th century or earlier then you said Initially vaulting poles were made from stiff materials such as bamboo or aluminum which is stupid Bamboo does not naturally occur in Europe and Aluminium was ridiculously expensive in the 19th century What is the historic pole vaultimg wood I would guess Ligustrum vulgarus but that is a marginally educated guess What is the history