14 October 2022

• TIL: Divje Babe flute:

  The Neanderthal musical instrument from Divje babe I meets all the requirements to be called the oldest known musical instrument. These are: clear archaeological and stratigraphic context, dating, explanation of manufacture, musical verification, and good comparisons in later periods. This find is currently the strongest material evidence of Neanderthal musical behaviour. It is at least 10,000 years older than the earliest Aurignacian wind instruments discovered in the German caves Hohle Fels, Geißenklösterle and Vogelherd