ANCIENT MUSIC
BY LUCY M. WARNER
SEPTEMBER 24, 2016



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InV2vogeiec
Published on Jun 9, 2014

*Do go to Youtube and listen to this, and read the information with it, which is pasted below.

First Musical Instruments (40,000 BCE) Mammoth ivory and bird bone flutes

The discovery suggests the musical tradition was well established in Europe over 40,000 years ago. This mammoth ivory and bird bone flutes are oldest musical instruments ever found. The first modern humans in Europe were playing musical instruments and showing artistic creativity as early as 40,000 years ago, according to new research.

Found with fragments of mammoth-ivory flutes, the 40,000-year-old artifact also adds to evidence that music may have given the first European modern humans a strategic advantage

It looks like our earliest human ancestors enjoyed recreational activities other than painting on cave walls. A study by Oxford University researchers revealed that the oldest musical instruments ever discovered date as far back as 42,000 to 43,000 years ago. These instruments are flutes made out of mammoth ivory and bird bones.

The instruments were discovered inside the caves of southern Germany along the Danube River valley by a team from the country's Tübingen University. They were previously thought to be only 40,000 years of age, but thanks to more advanced carbon dating equipment, it's been proven that the instruments are 2,000 to 3,000 years older. While a couple of thousand of years might seem insignificant (40,000-year-old musical instruments are still very much ancient, after all), this recent discovery sheds light on the movement of early humans in Europe.

According to Tom Higham of Oxford University, this suggests that modern humans were already in central Europe "when huge icebergs calved from ice sheets in the northern Atlantic and temperatures plummeted." Scientists previously thought that humans came to central Europe later after the shift in temperature. It's also consistent with earlier hypothesis by Tübingen University researchers that the "Danube River was a key corridor for the movement of humans and technological innovations into central Europe between 40,000 and 45,000 years ago."

Early modern humans could have spent their evenings sitting around the fire, playing bone flutes and singing songs 40,000 years ago, newly discovered ancient musical instruments indicate. The bone flutes push back the date researchers think human creativity evolved.

"Geißenklösterle is one of several caves in the region that has produced important examples of personal ornaments, figurative art, mythical imagery and musical instruments. The new dates prove the great antiquity of the Aurignacian in Swabia." The Aurignacian refers to an ancient culture and the associated tools. [Gallery: Europe's Oldest Rock Art] . . . .

SEE BELOW FOR DETAILED IMAGES AND INFORMATION ON THIS CAVE:

Old bones

The flutes are the earliest record of technological and artistic innovations that are characteristic of the Aurignacian period created [sic] the oldest known example of art meant to represent a person, found in the same cave system in 2008 (that statue seems to be about 40,000 years old). The musical instruments indicate that these early humans were sharing songs and showing artistic creativity even earlier than previously thought.

The researchers radiocarbon-dated bones found in the same layer of the archaeological dig as the flutes. This carbon dating uses the level of radioactive carbon, which is naturally occurring in the world and decays predictably into nonradioactive carbon, to estimate the age of organic materials.

They found the objects were between 42,000 and 43,000 years old, belonging to the Aurignacian culture dating from the upper Paleolithic period. So far, these dates are the earliest for the Aurignacian and predate equivalent sites from Italy, France, England and other regions.

The results indicate that modern humans entered the Upper Danube region before an extremely cold climatic phase around 39,000 to 40,000 years ago, the researchers said.

"Modern humans during the Aurignacian period were in central Europe at least 2,000 to 3,000 years before this climatic deterioration, when huge icebergs calved from ice sheets in the northern Atlantic and temperatures plummeted," study researcher Tom Higham, of Oxford University, said in a statement. "The question is what effect this downturn might have had on the people in Europe at the time."



Geißenklösterle

http://www.donsmaps.com/hohlefelssite.html

The Sites of Geissenklösterle, Hohle Fels, and Middle Paleolithic sites in the Swabian Alb near the city of Ulm

Important areas of ice age art occurred near Ulm (Germany), in the Schwaebische Alb (Swabian Alb), in the valleys of the Ach and Blau river near Blaubeuren (48°24'25.03"N, 09°47'02.67"E) and the Lone valley (48°32'58.27"N, 10°10'16.09"E), where the famous lion/human figure was found in the Hohlenstein-Stadel cave.

A number of world-famous caves, such as the Geissenklösterle, Brillenhöhle ('spectacle cave'), Grosse Grotte (great cave), Sirgenstein and Hohle Fels cave, can be reached from Blaubeuren on a labelled hiking path and are easily accessible from the important Museum für Ur-und Frühgeschichte (Museum of Prehistory, also known as the Urgeschichtliches Museum) which display the earliest known flutes made of the bone of a swan's wing and the radius of a griffon vulture, as well as one of mammoth ivory (made of two pieces of ivory, hollowed out and glued together!), a museum that displays a gallery of 40 000 years of art.

Photo: Conard et al. 2011 – MAP:

This is an excellent map of the important archaeological sites near Blaubeuren, and the hiking trail which connects them.

The Blautal (Blau valley) and the Schmiechtal (Schmiech valley) are both parts of the former Danube valley. This valley was used by the Danube before and during the ice ages, when it carried even more water than today. As the modern Rhine did not exist then, the Danube also brought water from Switzerland, which goes down the rhine today. At the same time the limestone plateau of the Swabian Jura was lifted by the forces of the Alps orogeny, and subsequently the Danube valley became deeper and deeper. The valley has several cut-off meander spurs, formed as meanders where the river finally has cut through the spur and thus created a shortcut.

. . . .

Stone Age finds were made in many caves and shelters of the Blau valley. In the Alb-Donau-Kreis, the administrative area belonging to Ulm, archaeological excavations in more than 28 caves were made. In the area belonging to Ehingen 19 caves were excavated. One of the caves was developed as a show cave, the Hohle Fels (Hollow Rock). The age of the oldest finds from this cave was determined, using 14C dating, to be 50 000 years. The time of the highest number of finds, which is assumed to be the time of the most intensive inhabitation, is from about 15 000 to 11 000 years BP.

. . . .

The finds from these caves are the subject of a unique presentation in the Prehistory Museum Gallery '40 thousand years of art'.

Perfect small sculptures made of ivory depict mammoths, horses, bison or water birds as well as a composite human and lion. Compared with major Kunstwerke.n. about by Willi Baumeister be astonishing similarities visible-a bridge between glacial and modern art.

There are astonishing similarities Compared with important works of art such as by Willi Baumeister be astonishing similarities visible-a bridge between glacial and modern art. A bone flute made from a swan wing bone, the oldest musical instrument of all mankind, also shows that the hunters and gatherers of the ice age also had the leisure to make music - and dancing, as elsewhere proved by petroglyphs.

The prehistoric exhibition on the ground floor gives a comprehensive and vivid picture of life in the Stone Age.

The exhibition ranges from the development of the landscape and the evolution of man, to the Neanderthals of the Ach and Blau river valleys, the animal and plant world of that time, to the hunting tools and techniques of the Neolithic period. Fire drills and hand axes can be tried, and up close experiences with leather and wood can be obtained!

Photo and text: Münzel et al. (2004) – layers of soil and human occupation

Human activities

The profile below the entrance shows a vertical sequence of ash lenses or hearths dating from the Middle Palaeolithic to the Middle Ages (Schmidt, 1912). During the whole sequence the entrance was the preferred place of occupation. Each of the two Middle Palaeolithic layers contained a hearth, with that of layer VIII being the larger. The stratigraphic position of the hearths indicates at least two different periods of Neanderthal occupation.

. . . .

Brillenhöhle – cave photograph -- Photo: http://www.blaubeuren.de/de/Tourismus/H%C3%B6hlen/Brillenh%C3%B6hle

Between 30 000 and 12 000 years ago people lived in the Brillenhöhle and left numerous tools, jewellery and the remains of the hunt. It is assumed it was used mostly in winter and spring. Large fireplaces show that the cave was used extensively. A wall of stones was once built there for protection against the cold, and was probably used as a wall for a tent built in the cave. Geißenklösterle and the Brillenhöhle were used at the same time.

The Brillenhöhle is so called because of the two large holes in the roof which look like huge spectacles. They provide light and an exit for smoke from fires.

. . . .

Geißenklösterle
http://www.donsmaps.com/adorant.html
The Adorant - The Worshipper

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, Württemberg Landesmuseum, Stuttgart

The Worshipper, called 'Adorant', is one of the oldest, most impressive and mystifying statuettes from the Ice Age. It was discovered in an ashy bone layer near a possible hearth. Unfortunately, the surface of this small flat segment of ivory is in very poor condition. Nevertheless, the bas-relief of a human being with raised arms, who seems to be either saluting or threatening, can be distinguished. The raised arms might also be interpreted as an attitude of worship, so the statuette was named the 'Adorant'.

The figure stands erect with legs apart and a tail-like extension down between its legs. It may depict a hybrid creature similar to the Lion-Man from the Hohlenstein-Stadel cave. We know of more such dual characters from French cave paintings. Rows of dots were cut on the back of this flat piece, possibly referring to simple astronomical observations. In addition, traces of manganese and red ochre (ferric oxide) were found on the back. Lines were cut into the sides as well as on one of the arms.

Text above from: http://www.ice-age-art.de/anfaenge_der_kunst/geissen/adorant.php



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic_flutes

Paleolithic flutes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photograph -- Aurignacian flute made from an animal bone, Geissenklösterle (Swabia)


A number of flutes dating to the European Upper Paleolithic have been discovered. The undisputed claims are all products of the Aurignacian archaeological culture, beginning about 43,000 to 35,000 years ago, and have been found in the Swabian Alb region of Germany. These flutes represent the earliest known musical instruments and provide valuable evidence of prehistoric music. The presence of these flutes demonstrates that a developed musical tradition existed from the earliest period of modern human presence in Europe.[1]

Early flutes[edit]

The Divje Babe "flute"

The artifact known as the Divje Babe flute, discovered in Slovenia in 1995, has been claimed as the oldest flute, though this has been disputed. The artifact is a cave bear femur, 43100 ± 700 years old, that has been pierced with spaced holes. Its discoverer suggested the holes were man made and that there may have been four originally before the item was damaged.[2] However, other scientists have argued that the holes are the result of the bone fragment having been chewed by an animal rather than by human design.[3]

Until 2012 the oldest undisputed musical instrument was the Hohle Fels Flute discovered in the Hohle Fels cave in Germany's Swabian Alb in 2008. The flute is made from a vulture's wing bone perforated with five finger holes, and dates to approximately 35,000 years ago.[1] Several years before, two flutes made of mute swan bone and one made of woolly mammoth ivory were found in the nearby Geisenklösterle cave. The team that made the Hohle Fels discovery wrote that these finds are the earliest evidence of humans being engaged in musical culture. They suggested music may have helped to maintain bonds between larger groups of humans, and that this may have helped the species to expand both in numbers and in geographical range.[4] In 2012, a fresh high-resolution carbon dating examination revealed an age of 42,000 to 43,000 years for the flutes from the Geisenklösterle cave, suggesting that they rather than the one from the Hohle Fels cave could be the oldest known musical instruments.[5][6][7]



EXCERPT – “However, other scientists have argued that the holes are the result of the bone fragment having been chewed by an animal rather than by human design.[3]”


In my view, all that has to be done in order to dispute that claim is to look at the holes themselves. They are very smoothly shaped, almost perfectly rounded and evenly sized, just like finger holes on a modern flute. Neither fragmentation nor the chewing of an animal’s teeth would produce that result. I can see it as a careful and clever hoax, like Piltdown Man, however. Listen to the music produced through either that flute, or a Reconstruction of it as mentioned on the Youtube video at the website given above. Written information is presented there on the flutes as well as lovely if eerie music played by a professional flautist.

I think the worst mistake made in the excerpted statement above, is deciding that these flutes are “Neanderthal” in origin -- a much maligned group by the earlier traditions of thinking -- when the Aurignacian Culture was also strongly present at the same time, both in Eastern and Western Europe, which is known to be technologically advanced. Besides, age alone isn’t enough reason to conclude that a find is of a given cultural origin, so I wonder what artifacts were found with the flute.

In addition, Neanderthalers are now thought by a number of scientists, besides Milford Howell Wolpoff, one of the original champions of the Neanderthal, as being an intelligent human in the direct path to Homo Sapiens rather than an almost ape-like creature as he is too often represented. That change in their status on the scale of human relatives/ancestors has happened more fully since DNA scholars have gotten heavily into the archaeology business, and have found both Neanderthal and Denisovan genes within the human genome.

They have also made dating possible, through the study of a predictable rate of changes through mutations, a more provable prospect than before, with the intensive DNA research that has been done since Watson and Crick’s work on the Human Genome Project. Assuming any contamination of samples has been correctly ruled out, that genetic mixing of Neanderthal and Denisovan genes could only happen by the old fashioned method of heredity promulgation.

We should also remember that we only have fragmentary physical evidence from even fairly recent archaeological finds, so dates are not certain. Things degenerate overtime and become scattered due to glacial action or flooding, etc., causing our estimates of cultural tradition to be at least 50 percent “guesstimation.” With the new DNA techniques that should be improved now. At least that’s my opinion. Carbon dating is great, but it needs to be corroborated by artifacts or something. That doesn’t mean those estimates are worthless, but that there’s room for possibilities that haven’t been proven yet.

It’s enough for my satisfaction, that whether a flute was made by a Neanderthal or by a Homo Sapiens, the presence of such an item indicates the inborn interest in things philosophical, and therefore above the level of the “primitive” individuals who were assumed 40 years ago to have lived during those times. We will have to stop assuming that they conked their woman on the head and dragged her off. It’s more likely that they charmed her with a birdsong played on their flute.