What is the oldest handmade musical instrument ever found?

bmrsnr

June 26, 2009 "Scientists in Germany have published details of flutes dating back to the time that modern humans began colonising Europe, 35,000 years ago. The flutes are the oldest musical instruments found to date." http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/oldest-musical-instrument-found Jul 04 09, 7:54 AM

BRY2K

Recently discovered were fragments of four flutes at two excavations in an area of southwestern Germany known as Swabia. One of the oldest, a vulture-bone flute, is approximately 35,000 years in age. http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2009/06/worlds-oldest-handmade-musical.html http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090625/ap_on_sc/eu_germany_prehistoric_flute Jul 04 09, 7:57 AM

ArlingtonVA

A slightly different view is that drums are perhaps the oldest musical instrument. "Drums are probably the world's oldest musical instrument, originating from every country in the world." http://www.worldmusicalinstruments.com/c-9-world-drums.aspx Purely my speculation, but I wonder if what the flute citations are referring to is specifically handcrafted objects purely for musical purposes. A drum could very well have evolved from a messaging technique into a musical one. Even the source cited for the flute indicates that: "Conard said it's likely that early modern humans — and perhaps Neanderthals, too — were making music longer than 35,000 years ago." I'm not arguing at all. I agree with the flute theory in one sense. I'm just wondering if early drums would be less likely to be preserved, since they were most likely made from vegetable matter such as trees or organic matter such animal skins. Jul 04 09, 12:13 PM

Baloo55th

The earliest drums would be simply 'musical' bits of tree that came to hand. Manufactured drums probably originated when someone put a piece of skin over some container - gourd, hollow wood, pot - to keep something inside, and discovered an interesting sound could be made. Hollow wood can also make interesting noises when blown, and chance could well put a convenient knot hole or two which would alter the sound. This would be before anyone thought of putting holes in a bone. None of the above instruments would leave any trace in most circumstances. The bone flutes are fairly certainly not the earliest-manufactured instruments, but they may be the earliest known instruments for quite some time. (Baloo is a drummer and wind player...) Jul 04 09, 2:08 PM

zbeckabee

Neck and neck with top post: BERLIN — A bird-bone flute unearthed in a German cave was carved some 35,000 years ago and is the oldest handcrafted musical instrument yet discovered, archaeologists say, offering the latest evidence that early modern humans in Europe had established a complex and creative culture. A team led by University of Tuebingen archaeologist Nicholas Conard assembled the flute from 12 pieces of griffon vulture bone scattered in a small plot of the Hohle Fels cave in southern Germany. Together, the pieces comprise a 8.6-inch (22-centimeter) instrument with five holes and a notched end. Conard said the flute was 35,000 years old. "It's unambiguously the oldest instrument in the world," Conard told The Associated Press this week. His findings were published online Wednesday by the journal Nature. Other archaeologists agreed with Conard's assessment. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/24/prehistoric-german-flute_n_220344.html Jul 04 09, 9:48 PM

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