There have been increased debates over what came first in prehistoric conditions, speech or music. While this remains to be fully explained, the recent discovery of a Stone Age flute from 35,000 to 40,000 years ago has helped to shine a light on the musical talents of these ancient peoples. This flute-like instrument was found near present day Ulm, Germany, and seems to represent a time wherein older humans discovered their ability to created music by fashioning a flute out of a griffon-vulture bone. This newest discovery has helped to indicate that music was present at the dawn of human culture, and further boosted the theory that there were high levels of technical and musical sophistication.
The ability to turn a bone into a flute is not an easy task, and involves exact knowledge of the resulting fixture. It additionally remains to be seen as to how many instruments were created at this time, as those made out of the most easily manipulated material (bone, wood, and canvas) do not preserve well. However, the use of stone tools brings up the question as to whether or not their tools may have been played as instruments because of their lasting quality. Most stone tools have lasted the 50,000 years since the early Homo Sapien culture, indicating a durable superiority, especially when compared to vulture bones, which have been found to be the only remnants of a musical culture. Archaeologists from the University of Cambridge put this theory to the test and create various stone tools in order to determine their musical qualities. Depending on the size and shape, each piece of flint created a different tone, much like the keys of a piano, although they also contained tones of different quality like the notes on a violin.
The fact that these stone tools could be fashioned to become musical instruments has been concluded to be a fact of prehistoric life. It is unlikely that the fashioners of tools did not notice the different sounds each tool produced, and we can thereby jump to the conclusion that these tools double as both a working utensil and a musical instrument. Additionally, many of these researchers have contended that musical attributes helped our early ancestors evolve, thereby preserving the culture. Any types of musical instruments have not been discovered in Neanderthal sites which have begun to cause researchers to theorize that music has helped cement our culture in growth. Furthermore, these indications that music helped to prevent our ancestors from dying out additionally may help to prove that music came before language, as today it serves as nearly a universal language. You do not need to know Russian or Chinese in order to appreciate the music that comes from that culture. Such was the case thousands of years ago. There is still much research that needs to be conducted in order to determine the early musical qualities of our ancestors, but it has become clear that they were aware of music and this more than likely helped to shape our modern culture.
This post was contributed by Tara Miller, who writes about the online teaching degree. She welcomes your feedback at TaraMillerr00 at yahoo.com
