35,000-year-old flute oldest musical instrument ever found

[Naveed Yaseen]

PARIS (June 25 2009): Stone Age humans may have ripped raw meat from the bone with their teeth but they also played music, according to a study reporting the discovery of a 35,000-year-old flute, the oldest instrument known. Found in the Ach Valley of southern Germany, the nearly intact five-hole flute was meticulously carved with stone tools from the hollow wing-bone of a giant vulture, says the study, published Thursday in the British journal Nature.

Fragments from three ivory flutes unearthed at the same site, along with nearby instruments not quite as old, suggest that humans who had then only recently migrated to the Upper Danube enjoyed a rich musical culture. And a stunning female figurine from the same period found only a couple paces from the bone flute, reported last month, points to a broader artistic flowering. Indeed, the area within the cave that yielded the flutes reveals a veritable artist's atelier.

There is debris from the flint tools used to chip the instruments; traces of worked bone and ivory from mammoth, horse, reindeer and bear; and burnt bone, one of the ingredients - along with minerals, charcoal, blood and animal fats - used by Stone Age humans for cave painting.

"We can now conclude that music played an important role in Aurignacian life in the Ach and Lone valleys," commented Nicholas Conard, a professor at the University of Tubingen and lead author of the study. Aurignacian culture flourished in western Europe during what is known as the Upper Palaeolithic period, from about 40,000 to 10,000 years ago. The bone flute, part of a treasure trove of artifacts uncovered at the Hohle Fels Cave, was found in 12 pieces scattered over an oval area the size of a large plate. It is in superb condition and reveals many details about its manufacture.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=927788