Earliest
musical instruments in Europe 40,000 years ago
The first
modern humans in Europe were playing musical instruments and showing artistic
creativity as early as 40,000 years ago, according to new research from Oxford
and Tübingen universities.
The
researchers have obtained important new radiocarbon dates for bones found in
the same archaeological layers as a variety of musical instruments. The
instruments take the form of flutes made from the bird bones and mammoth ivory.
They were excavated at a key site in Germany, which is widely believed to have
been occupied by some of first modern humans to arrive in Europe.
In a paper
published in the Journal of Human Evolution, the researchers describe the new
dating results for animal bones, excavated in the same archaeological layers as
the instruments and early art, at Geißenklösterle Cave in the Swabian Jura of
southern Germany. The animal bones bear cuts and marks from human hunting and
eating.
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