In 2008, bone and ivory flutes from Germany revealed music’s deep Ice Age roots

In summer 2008, an archaeological team excavated a cave in southwest Germany, yielding objects that deepened researchers’ understanding of prehistoric human culture. Deep within the cave sediment of Hohle Fels Cave, archaeologists uncovered a nearly complete flute made from griffon vulture bone, along with fragments of mammoth-ivory flutes. These were not broken tools or decorative pieces. They were recognisable instruments with finger holes and a properly formed mouthpiece.In the context of archaeology, which relies primarily on the study of artefacts, it was remarkable to find clear evidence that humans were playing music over 35,000 years ago.Published in Nature in 2009, the discovery pushed back the timeline of known musical instruments far into the Ice Age, showing that music formed part of human life during the earliest known presence of modern humans in Europe.According to the study conducted by University of Tübingen archaeologist Nicholas Conard and colleagues, the artefacts belong to the Aurignacian culture, one of the earliest of the Upper Palaeolithic societies to emerge in Europe with the appearance of modern humans.What did the archaeologists find?The most famous musical instrument found at Hohle Fels was fashioned from a griffon vulture's wing bone. This object measured more than 20 centimetres in length, had a shaped mouthpiece and five finger holes carved into its surface.Fragments of mammoth ivory flutes were also found in the cave. The ivory took a significantly more complex creation process than the bird bone flutes because it first had to be split in half before the pieces could be hollowed out and joined together, a level of technical ability that surprised some experts. Researchers concluded that these were not experimental artefacts, but highly complex and sophisticated instruments, and their makers knew how to create and manipulate sound.The significance of this finding was instantly clear to researchers. As noted by Scientific American at the time, the flutes represented some of the earliest confirmed instruments and were indicative of a musical tradition amongst Europe's first modern humans.Why their age matteredThere have been other archaeological finds of ancient instruments elsewhere in Europe, but the Hohle Fels flutes pushed back the timeline for widely accepted musical instruments.The strength of their claim was in the evidence of their archaeological context. The artefacts were not unearthed in scattered deposits, but in securely dated Aurignacian layers of the cave where they couldn't have been mixed with materials from earlier or later periods. The age of the flutes, around 35,000–40,000 years old, puts them at a point in time when modern humans were establishing themselves in Europe.Supporting the age claims, further research was undertaken into several nearby caves in the Swabian Jura region of Germany. Sites like Geissenklösterle have also helped cement the region as an early locus of Upper Palaeolithic symbolic behaviour. Within the network of caves, an extraordinarily early period of human history is present, and with it the age of musical instruments. More than a single cave discoveryThe finding at Hohle Fels is part of a wider Swabian Jura landscape of early art and music.In nearby caves, such as Vogelherd Cave, further evidence has been found of this shared culture. Excavated in the same region, archaeologists have uncovered figurative art, personal ornaments, and other symbolically created artefacts.Why is this important? These items were not created with just hunting and basic survival in mind. The items are thought to relate to identity, creativity, and community practices.Some of the oldest examples of figurative art in the world have been recovered from the same area, and together with these musical artefacts, show human communities expending effort and energy to create things that weren't solely necessary for existence.What the instruments reveal about Ice Age peopleTo make the flutes, human beings were believed to have had to demonstrate significant planning and ingenuity, not to mention a degree of skill honed through practice. The positioning of the finger holes, the working shape of the mouthpiece, and the strength of the tool are just a few examples of their attention to detail. Reportedly, mammoth ivory was difficult to work with, requiring complicated methods of carving and joining the ivory together before being polished into a useful instrument.Such discoveries have led archaeologists to hypothesise about specialisation and transmitted knowledge within Ice Age societies, as well as about situations where creating music was a sufficiently worthwhile endeavour to expend significant time and resources.While no one can be certain what the music sounded like, many researchers believe that music might have functioned to promote social cohesion or identity and the expression of shared values, if nothing more.A discovery that changed a familiar storyThe lasting significance of the Hohle Fels flutes lies in their capacity to change our preconceived notions of prehistoric human beings.Such discoveries challenged older assumptions that Ice Age people were focused primarily on survival, but these finds demonstrate that they had the capacity for creativity and art tens of thousands of years before our time.Over 35,000 years prior to orchestral concerts, recorded music, and music halls, in a land now known as Germany, a human being carved bone and ivory into a musical instrument. While the actual songs played have long been lost to time, the instruments remain as their lasting testament.