Were Neanderthals capable of creating music?
29 JUNE 2022|HUMANS
In 1995, archaeologist Ivan Turk discovered a unique perforated bone in the Divje Babe cave in Slovenia. The artefact was found in the middle of a palaeolithic layer of earth, near the remains of a Neanderthal fire place, stone and bone tools.
Extensive experimental research confirmed that the holes in the bone were hand-made and that the bone was likely a neanderthal flute, between 50-60,000 years old. This made it the world’s oldest musical instrument, and therefore an object that could re-write our assumptions about the fundemental humanity of our Neanderthal cousins.
Video by Martina Žoldoš Commissioning Editor: Cagney Roberts
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Remarkable how a few holes in a 60k old bone able to
reproduce today's musical classics that a much younger
didgeridoo simply can not.
