Instrument has five finger holes and two deep V-shaped notches at one end
Posted on 06/24/2009 5:20:09 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Found in a German cave, suggesting humans were piping tunes from bone and ivory flutes more than 35,000 years ago, new research has shown.
Scientists discovered remains of the instruments in a German cave once populated by some of the first modern humans to settle in Europe after leaving Africa.
Instrument has five finger holes and two deep V-shaped notches at one end
The finds suggest that our oldest ancestors in Europe had a well-established musical tradition.
The most significant discovery was a complete flute made from a griffon vulture bone.
Measuring 21.8cm, with a diameter of about 8mm, the instrument has five finger holes and two deep V-shaped notches at one end.
Scientists also found two small fragments of two ivory flutes at the same site, Hohle Fels cave in the Ach valley in south-west Germany.
The flutes were uncovered close to a mammoth ivory "Venus" figurine whose discovery was widely publicised recently.
Carbon dating indicated that the flutes were more than 35,000 years old.
Dr Nicholas Conard, from Tubingen University in Germany, and colleagues reported the discovery in the journal Nature.
They suggested that by increasing the social cohesion of early modern humans, music may have contributed to the demise of the Neanderthals.
These were a separate species of early European human that were eventually replaced by our species, Homo sapiens, and became extinct.
The scientists wrote: "The presence of music in the lives of early Upper Palaeolithic peoples did not directly produce a more effective subsistence economy and greater reproductive fitness. Viewed, however, in a broader behavioural context, early Upper Palaeolithic music could have contributed to the maintenance of larger social networks, and thereby perhaps have helped facilitate the demographic and territorial expansion of modern humans relative to culturally more conservative
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
German flute playing cavemen PING!
Well, to be honest, they were shagging AND eating Neanderthals...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/search?m=all;o=time;q=quick;s=flute
Prehistoric flute in Germany is oldest known
Associated Press | Jun 24, 2009 | Patrick McGroarty
Posted on 06/24/2009 12:40:02 PM PDT by decimon
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2278592/posts
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Gods |
Thanks a fool in paradise. |
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No problem, I saw the article on NYTimes and search FR threads for Flutes in the title and only saw this one.
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