Was This The First Musical Instruments Ever Made!
In 2012, researchers published new findings about ancient flutes discovered in caves in southern Germany. Made from bird bones and mammoth ivory, these remarkable instruments were among the oldest confirmed musical instruments ever found. They were crafted by early modern humans (Homo sapiens) and may have been used for entertainment, celebrations or important social gatherings.
Using radiocarbon dating, scientists established that the archaeological layers associated with these instruments were approximately 42,000 to 43,000 years old. Their findings, published in the Journal of Human Evolution, provided fascinating evidence that music played a role in human life tens of thousands of years ago.
But were these the first musical instruments ever made? Perhaps not! Archaeologists had already discovered an extraordinary 60,000-year-old artefact known as the “Neanderthal flute”, which some experts believe could be the oldest musical instrument ever discovered. Now you can hear what this remarkable prehistoric instrument may have sounded like in the video below.
The ancient bone was discovered in Divje Babe cave, overlooking the Idrijca River in Slovenia. Now preserved as a national treasure, it has attracted worldwide attention because researchers at the National Museum of Slovenia believe it was deliberately fashioned into a musical instrument by Neanderthals. However, its origins remain debated among archaeologists.
The fascinating artefact was made from the thigh bone of a young cave bear. It contains two complete holes and evidence of additional possible holes, which some researchers believe were carefully positioned to produce musical notes. If Neanderthals really did create this primitive flute, it raises the extraordinary possibility that they were making music and entertaining one another thousands of years before modern humans produced the famous German flutes.
Scientists have conducted experiments to investigate whether the holes were deliberately crafted or resulted from natural processes, including the bites of prehistoric animals. Some studies support the idea that the bone was intentionally modified to produce music, while others favour an animal-bite explanation. Although the debate continues, reconstructed versions have demonstrated that an instrument based on the original artefact can produce recognisable musical notes.
At approximately 60,000 years old, the Divje Babe artefact predates the famous bird-bone and mammoth-ivory flutes discovered in southern Germany by around 17,000 to 18,000 years. If its Neanderthal origins are eventually confirmed, it could provide remarkable evidence that our ancient relatives possessed musical abilities long before previously established examples of human music-making. Whatever its true origins, this extraordinary discovery offers a fascinating glimpse into prehistoric life and the enduring mystery of when humanity first began making music.