This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/europe/8117915.stm

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
'Oldest musical instrument' found 'Oldest musical instrument' found
(about 4 hours later)
A flute carved more than 35,000 years ago has been unearthed in Germany and scientists believe it is the world's oldest musical instrument. Scientists in Germany have published details of flutes dating back to the time that modern humans began colonising Europe, 35,000 years ago.
The vulture-bone flute was found in the Hohle Fels cave in southern Germany. The flutes are the oldest musical instruments found to date.
It dates back to the time when early modern humans began settling in Europe, which suggests that they had a creative culture and were socially cohesive. The researchers say in the Journal Nature that music was widespread in pre-historic times.
Experts also say this might explain why they survived, while neanderthals - who were more isolated - became extinct. They also suggest that music enabled our species to socialise which may have given our species the edge over Neanderthals who became extinct.
The 20cm (7.9 in) long flute has five holes and a notched end, a team led by University of Tuebingen archaeologist Nicholas Conard said. The team from Tubingen University have published details of three flutes found in the Hohle Fels cavern in southwest Germany.
It's very clear that music played an important role in these people's lives Dr Nicholas ConardUniversity of Tuebingen, Germany The cavern is already well known as a site for signs of early human efforts; in May, members of the same team unveiled a Hohle Fels find that could be the world's oldest Venus figure.
Fragments of two other primitive flutes - carved from ivory taken from the tusks of mammoth - were also found. The most well-preserved of the flutes is made from a vulture's wing bone, measuring 20cm long with five finger holes and two "V"-shaped notches on one end of the instrument into which the researchers assume the player blew.
So far, eight flutes have been discovered from this era. The archaeologists also found fragments of two other flutes carved from ivory that they believe was taken from the tusks of mammoths.
Dr Conard says this suggests that the playing of music was common when early modern humans spread across Europe and indicates that the concept of music and other creative expression runs deep in human culture. Creative origins
"It's very clear that music played an important role in these people's lives," he says. The find brings the total number of flutes discovered from this era to eight, four made from mammoth ivory and four made from bird bones.
Dr Conard says he believes that emergence of art and culture so early in human history might explain why modern humans survived and neanderthals became extinct. According to Professor Nicholas Conard of Tubingen University, this suggests that the playing of music was common as far back as 40,000 years ago when modern humans spread across Europe.
He suggests that cultural expression might have helped human species become more sociable and co-operative, whereas neanderthals were culturally more conservative and so remained isolated. "It's becoming increasingly clear that music was part of day-to-day life," he said.
"Music was used in many kinds of social contexts: possibly religious, possibly recreational - much like we use music today in many kinds of settings."
The researchers also suggest that not only was music widespread much earlier than previously thought, but so was humanity's creative spirit.
"The modern humans that came into our area already had a whole range of symbolic artifacts, figurative art, depictions of mythological creatures, many kinds of personal ornaments and also a well-developed musical tradition," Professor Conard explained.
These flutes provide yet more evidence of the sophistication of the people that lived at that time Professor Chris StringerNatural History Museum
The team argues that the emergence of art and culture so early might explain why early modern humans survived and Neanderthals, with whom they co-existed at the time, became extinct.
"Music could have contributed to the maintenance of larger social networks, and thereby perhaps have helped facilitate the demographic and territorial expansion of modern humans relative to a culturally more conservative and demographically more isolated Neanderthal populations," they wrote.
That is a view supported by Professor Chris Stringer, a human origins researcher at the Natural History Museum in London.
"These flutes provide yet more evidence of the sophistication of the people that lived at that time and the probable behavioural and cognitive gulf between them and Neanderthals," he said.
"I think the occurrence of these flutes and animal and human figurines about 40,000 years ago implies that the traditions that produced them must go back even further in the evolutionary history of modern humans - perhaps even into Africa more than 50,000 years ago.
"But that evidence has still to be discovered."