A team of researchers led by Oxford Professor of Archaeological Science Tom Higham have uncovered what are believed to be the world’s earliest examples of musical instruments.
An excavation this month at a cave in Geissenkloesterle, Germany, revealed flutes made from either bird bone or mammoth ivory. Experts have speculated they may have been used for ‘recreation of religious reasons’.
The find’s location has thrown into question a previous view, held by many scientists, that modern humans only settled in the upper Danube region after an extreme climactic phase 40,000 years ago.
Carbon dating has suggested that the instruments were made between 42,000 and 43,000 years ago.
‘Modern humans during [this] period were in central Europe at least 2,000-3,000 years before this climatic deterioration, when huge icebergs calved from ice sheets in the northern Atlantic and temperatures plummeted’, explained Prof Higham.
‘The question is what effect this downturn might have had on the people in Europe at the time.’
It is widely believed that music may represent just one of several human traits that gave homo sapiens a natural advantage over the less developed Neanderthals.
Student opinion in Oxford was buzzing with excitement at the prospect of what the instruments could tell us about human history.
One anonymous music student, who identified the ‘musics and sounds of ancient times’ as one of his core interests, claimed that the flutes ‘could represent a major milestone in the history of music history.’
‘I might start playing with mine again’, he added.
