Other related games involved throwing sticks at pins rather than rolling a ball at them. Non-pin bowling, where the aim is to come closest to a smaller target ball, is also very old. Probably originated in India before 1000AD, and spread everywhere from there. To be updated later this week. This week looks to be saner, I should be able to type up my notes on the above games and add them to the FAQ files.
More details welcome.
Seriously, I'm including this on the list because it DOES get asked of me at demos and such.