What did the mesolithic sound like?

[Dave]

Ive always wanted to play a musical instrument. But never got around to it.

So anyway I recently bought an Ocarina. And read that they have been around in meso-american circles for 12,000 years.

What other musical instruments appear in the archeological record?

Anyone tried making a basic flute, or recorder, out of bone or antler?

Some good ones HERE, reindeer whistles, bullroarers, xylophones,.....

Wondered if any experimental archeologial groups had recreated the sounds around a campfire from that era? Or did they prefer the audotorium sound of caves?

They must have played duets, all joined in, maybe humming and stuff? I wonder if the first songs, chants, were religious in purpose, or just for enjoyment?

Would love to hear a recording.

 

[crosslandkelly]

It would probably be the sounds of percussion. Two stones banged together, sticks on hollow logs would be my guess.

 

[Goatboy]

Seemingly there's only one proffessional carnyx player in the world according to the recent BBC program The Celts: Blood, Iron & Sacrifice.
I used to play the drums in a band. Though how good we were is open to debate.
I do have a jaw harp that I've occasionaly taken away with me. Nice and portable. Tried learning the penny whistle when younger and tried taking it up again a couple of years ago. Unfortuneatley the dog was a bit of a critic and would go mental whenever it went near my mouth.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

 

[bobnewboy]

I made the missus a cow horn whistle for shooting (NFAS safety rule), and I see a lot of antler whistles too, but that is a single note only. Quite a nice thing to hold and use. I have tried a bullroarer in Oz, and although you can vary the note it produces I would hesitate to say it was particularly musical

Having said that, I wonder when the origin of panpipes came about? South American people seem to have the oldest examples or at least the most noted history with them, but surely they have been around for a very long time? Any kind of open plant stem could be used as one.

 

[Toddy]

The earliest 'instruments' that we know of are bird bone flutes.
40,000 years old flutes….that's pre-dating Homo sapiens sapiens, and they are found right through our history.

Loads of links on the net if you type in Bone flutes, earliest
Like this

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic_flutes

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=s...oTCJqmwbnN58gCFUdMJgodAJ8LFQ&biw=1024&bih=577

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/06/090624-bone-flute-oldest-instrument.html

There appears to be a long continuation of these right through the paleolithic and mesolithic to the neolithic and into bronze and iron ages.

M

 

[Dave]

The earliest 'instruments' that we know of are bird bone flutes.
40,000 years old flutes….that's pre-dating Homo sapiens sapiens,

Thats pretty mind blowing. I guess they could have gone back a lot further too, even thought theres no evidence?

Maybe I should rename the thread to what did the palaeolithic sound like?

This is a clip from Werner herzogs documentary, Cave of forgotten dreams. The paintings date back 40,000 years. And they found a flute too.

This is a scene where an experimental archeologist dresses and plays the paleolithic flute, from that period. He says they had the same tonality. Thats amazing.

[video=youtube;yUCBBDV2Tzk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUCBBDV2Tzk[/video]

 

[Palaeocory]

We just recently made a series of videos for young kids about different stone age technologies, and Dr Iain Morley (who is interested in the prehistory of music) did one on music:

https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/music

His book The Prehistory of Music will be the one you want! http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Prehistory-Music-Archaeology-Musicality/dp/0199234086

Our Palaeotechnology group keeps tossing around the idea of making a Palaeolithic music group with birdbone flutes, skin drums etc, perhaps some flint percussion... but it hasn't materialized yet

There's a video on Youtube where someone is playing a reconstruction Neanderthal flute, though I don't think everyone accepts the piece as a flute https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHy9FOblt7Y

 

[Dave]

Thanks Palaeocory. Might buy that.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Great thread. Reading some literature I came across this.

[video=youtube;LvgtAHV4mzw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvgtAHV4mzw[/video]

 

[Dave]

Theres a video on Youtube where someone is playing a reconstruction Neanderthal flute, though I don't think everyone accepts the piece as a flute

[video=youtube;sHy9FOblt7Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHy9FOblt7Y[/video]

Thats very eerie. 60,000 years old!?Wow. Im digging that.

 

[Toddy]

There is an area in Africa (site name escapes me for the moment) where there is a field of upright stones, raised almost like the ones that frost lifts, which are all struck marked.
If hit on one of those strike marks the stones ring and sing. The date I was told of for them was 60,000bce.
Communication was the first interpretation, since the sound of the ringing stones can be heard miles away, but later interpretation after analysis of the different sounds, seems to indicate music

Singing stones are know of in India, Asia, Europe and the Americas too.

M

 

[boatman]

Our stone circles are supposed to have acoustic properties.

One article- https://soundsofstonehenge.wordpress.com/conclusions/