Comments
cboel t1_je3ecim wrote
It was the equivalent of the newest cellphone of its day. Music in the form of singing, chanting, whistling, etc. had been around long before that instrument was made and it was likely a progressive improvement over something like a large grass or reed stalk.
We don't tend to find those types of things being preserved though in archaeology sites. We know they had to exist due to seeing technologically less advanced peoples in more modern ages being documented making and use them.
A standard mouth whistle that you see referees use at sports events, for example, likely has origins even further back.
EffectiveSalamander t1_je3fzon wrote
I'm curious what it would have sounded like.
icelandichorsey t1_je3i8cd wrote
Even this I wouldn't be able to make good music from 😂
hillo538 t1_je3ii4u wrote
Damn, the oldest instrument wasn’t even from the standard human you see today
ThymeIsTight t1_je3k4qb wrote
Maybe the Neanderthals played Three Blind Mice as well
chrispybobispy t1_je3llg6 wrote
This is my special Neanderthal flute it was passed down 60,000 years to me by my great great great ^500 grandfather who was a caveman.
[deleted] t1_je3mjng wrote
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blackadder1620 t1_je3nvnn wrote
oldest found. good chance we did the same things if not a little more extra. although their cave paintings are pretty damn cool. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascaux
Newjacktitties t1_je3v4ry wrote
Hot Cross Buns
[deleted] t1_je3x4fg wrote
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theKtrain t1_je3y3se wrote
Show me the gold, I wanna know where the gold at
Cleopatrashouseboy t1_je41uqd wrote
Probably Ian Anderson.
Snarkblatt t1_je462oj wrote
Mary had a little lamb and they still fucked up the last note
royaltrux t1_je46c3y wrote
_who_is_they_ t1_je493zw wrote
Legend has it, if you play it right the bear will be summoned.
_who_is_they_ t1_je49bgt wrote
Sounds like some skinwalker/wendigo horror music. Better run fast..
otclogic t1_je4bo76 wrote
They can test that I’m sure.
Fulminero t1_je4cta8 wrote
There is something strangely melancholic about this. I can't help but imagine this person playing in front of a fire, their friends and loved ones sitting, eating and speaking their alien tongue.
They would never have imagined their instrument would survive them so long, a 60000 years old legacy.
Rest well, music man.
LineChef t1_je4dxa1 wrote
It could be a shaman, who got a’hold of the wrong medicine, and told him to get in the tree and play a caveman…
LineChef t1_je4e18i wrote
Hey, it’s tricky ok?
Charlotte_D_Katakuri t1_je4gx2b wrote
Ljuben Dimkaroski plays the Divje Babe Bone Flute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZCWFcyxUhQ
paigezero t1_je4kgn6 wrote
Something something thigh-bear-punk.
outerlabia t1_je4kqil wrote
Imagine if 60k years from now someone found a kazoo in some mud and thought that was something we considered highly sophisticated lol
-reddug- t1_je4kvvi wrote
What do you want to be? A musician? Gotta kill a cave bear first!
o-ater t1_je4setz wrote
How is it at warding off Leprechaun spells?
thick_curtains t1_je4sv68 wrote
Squatting near a cave mouth
Watching small prey with hunger devout
jagnew78 t1_je4tgr1 wrote
if you see the complexity of that it's hard not to imagine there are older, even more simple versions of this from before hand. Someone probable started with a hollow bone after sucking the marrow out after a meal and was just probably fooling around with it and blew into it for fun and it made a cool sound.
Then who knows how long... generations later someone, somewhere down the road realized if you covered your hand over one end you could make it change sound and then at some point, generations more later someone figured out you could drill holes into it and cover or uncover them and create even more sound variations.
this is an evolution of an instrument refined over generations.
Aye_Eye_Captain t1_je4vwiu wrote
The idea that Neanderthals were kind of slow and dim-witted is completely inaccurate. Recent archaeological research has revealed that they were quite advanced and perhaps as intelligent as our modern human ancestors
LiesInRuins t1_je4z2pf wrote
It could have even happened in the same weekend. One particularly curious cave monkey with an inventive mind could’ve conjured this up in a day and then get beaten to death for it and the next cave monkey could’ve showed it to some friends.
Moneyshot_ITF t1_je4zt53 wrote
Dont be afraid. Dont be afraid man
Captcha_Imagination t1_je50mrs wrote
The largest cave bears were 2200 lbs! (as per wiki)
devo_inc t1_je52e1a wrote
Fascinating. For insurance purposes, I would insure this for no less than....
milk4all t1_je566de wrote
Rugged, shirtless, hairy man, upon seeing a wild, curvaceous female: “Baby, im gonna play you like a flute”
Curvaceous Female: “grrr?”
[deleted] t1_je56b6s wrote
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nosnevenaes t1_je56jgb wrote
They did not have buns back then.
runningmurphy t1_je570j8 wrote
That's so metal
Flounder4life t1_je59dgu wrote
Who was the fist cave guy that was like, toot toot…Hey check this out!
Christovir t1_je5cd2g wrote
Hot cross bugs then?
Stubborncomrade t1_je5dhin wrote
Aschtually if every generation reproduce after 30 years then that’s only be 15000 years. (30*500). So unless your grand parents reproduced at age 120, you’d need at least 2000 generations
[deleted] t1_je5ffrb wrote
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chrispybobispy t1_je5h0tz wrote
Ha! I was doing the quick n dirty math in my head last night, then decided that was pedantic and went with 500. Good work stubborncomrade
Kwando-D-Hornblower t1_je5iidf wrote
Yes they did. Prove me wrong.
LupusDeusMagnus t1_je5kgis wrote
Allegedly. There’s some discussion on whether it’s actually a flute.
groggyMPLS t1_je5l7jp wrote
”Musical experiments confirmed findings of archaeological research that the size and the position of the holes cannot be accidental – they were made with the intention of musical expression.”
I hate statements like this. Of course it could have been accidental. Insanely unlikely, but why sound stupid by saying there’s zero chance some cave man made four holes in a bone that just happened to be on the right scale for making musical notes.
Lurker_IV t1_je5m9fj wrote
They had sewing needles so they had tailored clothing. And musical instruments so they had music. They had bigger brains than us so they were probably smarter. They must have had art of some kinds.
More human than human us back then probably. Shame they aren't around anymore.
nosnevenaes t1_je5mfbb wrote
Well. Buns require leavening yes?
Kind-Sand-2998 t1_je5o2uu wrote
They are still in us
Albyross t1_je5q965 wrote
When you said impact, at first I thought you meant the force a person would feel from being bludgeoned on the head by it.
bassslapper05 t1_je5qutx wrote
Is a cave bear like a black bear with a club?
nosnevenaes t1_je5r4ht wrote
That too
liarandahorsethief t1_je5ug4m wrote
I bet Lizzo could play that thing.
[deleted] t1_je5v1yj wrote
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P33J t1_je5x3cs wrote
That’s the most metal flute in history
bluemooncalhoun t1_je5xi19 wrote
Pygmy cultures made complex music with a simple one-note flute, as demonstrated by Sir Francis Bebey: https://youtu.be/c6T6suvnhco
newmindsets t1_je60f8m wrote
Music truly is amazing
Whoretron8000 t1_je6159v wrote
Idk, we just found evidence of cooking fish 780,000 years ago, we are slowly learning more as we go and I wouldn't be surprised if our estimates on manipulating yeasts to make fluffy grain paste are off by a few-tens of thousand years.
nosnevenaes t1_je63sw7 wrote
Catching fish is easier to figure out than how to make dough rise.
Whoretron8000 t1_je64j0q wrote
Sure, I don't think catching fish and cooking it is so much the surprise, but the discrepancy between what we previously knew and what we know now in regards to what evidence suggests is what's surprising... How wrong we could potentially be until we learn more.
nosnevenaes t1_je65ar8 wrote
This is true. Yes. But if you make bread one of the first thoughts that comes to mind while you are proofing dough is how long did it did it take mf'ers to figure this out?
leeuwerik t1_je66k5f wrote
We hunted them down. Like we wil be hunted down by our replacements.
hillo538 t1_je66y3b wrote
We should probably bring them back with cloning instead, and not just for sideshow attractions: iirc Neanderthals would be able to live in the modern day without much trouble
leeuwerik t1_je67we1 wrote
I guess they would be hunted again.
[deleted] t1_je6cscx wrote
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Whoretron8000 t1_je6f55o wrote
For some reason I instantly pictured a chronological display of all the different breads made with different grains, yeasts, proof times etc. In a museum.
Is it possible a neanderthal just found some extra crushed grain sitting in some water that got mashed by the weight or something.. and they cooked it and tried to recreate it? Was it methodical? Accident? How many got sick trying different iterations. Oooh possibilities.
nosnevenaes t1_je6hp0v wrote
ok yeah making the bread is not the hard part. it is getting an agent into the bread to make it rise, such as yeast, or sourdough, etc.
that is the innovation which would have taken a long ass time to come up with.
so they might have had hot cross crackers, hardtac, or whatever - i mean even the last supper - what did jesus and the crew eat? unleavened bread.
the romans didnt have it as far as i know.
i think the bread we eat today (which i love) is a relatively new thing.
i am not dragging chatGPT into this!
AccordionORama t1_je6k84a wrote
In case you're interested (like I was) in the reasoning that went into calling this a flute, as opposed to "something that bears a resemblance to part of a flute", Wikipedia has a rather thorough discussion:
Jiktten t1_je6tewi wrote
>More human than human us back then
What makes you say that? IIRC there is no reason to suppose that early homo sapiens were any less mentally or linguistically sophisticated than we are now.
IAm_NotACrook t1_je6wpk7 wrote
> They had bigger brains than us so they were probably smarter.
I don’t know if that tracks. Like dolphins have bigger brains than us but I don’t think a dolphin is as smart as us, despite being extremely intelligent in their own right.
sandyposs t1_je72u0p wrote
60000 years ago and everyone's having a party around the campfire, this dude whips out the flute and everyone groans inwardly Oh, not this again.
Cyhawk t1_je72z9v wrote
No, it's bone.
repeatwad t1_je7jh46 wrote
They hunted the hibernating cave bears, helped them through the winters.
TheEarthIsWound t1_je7m3ed wrote
Happy cake day
_austinm t1_je7mwz2 wrote
What else would it be?
Reatona t1_je7nzm6 wrote
Guy in the next cave over: "Turn that damn thing down!!!"
GeorgeOlduvai t1_je7pias wrote
It does not track. Your example is excellent; dolphins have bigger brains than humans but they use most of that for echolocation. Neanderthals had smaller frontal lobes and larger occipital portions.
GeorgeOlduvai t1_je7pxft wrote
It is unlikely to the point where it can be considered a non-zero chance happening. In other words, it's more likely for it to have been found by a Neanderthal with the holes already in it than to have had the holes accidentally placed correctly to function as an instrument.
GeorgeOlduvai t1_je7q0lz wrote
No, it's a Kodiak on 'roids.
nosnevenaes t1_je7rcbq wrote
This is my gottdam day off!
LupusDeusMagnus t1_je7taax wrote
I’m not an archaeologist but it’s a fragment of perforated bone. Could’ve been merely decorative for what matters. Just pointing out that there isn’t an unanimous agreement of what it is, and an instrument that old would require a complete reevaluation of out understanding of Neanderthal cognitive capabilities.
zacksmithey t1_je7x526 wrote
This Neanderthal fucks
mmuffley t1_je80p7r wrote
Thick as a brick.🎶
ICPosse8 t1_je81gbd wrote
So we made flutes before drums?
dressageishard t1_je856lm wrote
I know one or two.
dressageishard t1_je85k4d wrote
Cro-Magnon man had a larger brain than modern humans. Who knows, maybe Neanderthals did, too?
[deleted] t1_je85yta wrote
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Robotdeath t1_je8gki2 wrote
Anyways, here's Wonderwall.
sandyposs t1_je8v0xo wrote
Todaaaaaay is gonna be the day...
sandyposs t1_je8v23i wrote
Shitty flute edition.
_Maxolotl t1_jea36ic wrote
Here's a second fact that I always tell people to add some perspective about this flute:
I live in Brooklyn, New York. Brooklyn is part of Long Island. Long Island is a glacial moraine, formed after the last major glacial retreat.
That flute is older than Long Island. And the short version of my factoid is "Music is older than Long Island".
cloudbearry t1_jebgjpe wrote
Now I kind of want my bones to be turned into flutes after I die.
2poxxer t1_jecgcq5 wrote
So, youre sitting on a small stream bank fluting for the fish ans some damn Cromag jumps up to take yo shit. Nah, blast em with this whistling club and keep yo shit. If anyone hasnt watched it yet, the film Iceman seems to capture how things likely were for a long time.
nosnevenaes t1_je3cli0 wrote
Imagine the impact this instrument would make on people before recorded music was a thing.