Prehistoric music
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In the [[history of music]], '''prehistoric music''' (previously called '''primitive music''') is all [[music]] produced in [[literate|preliterate]] cultures ([[prehistory]]), beginning somewhere in very late [[geological history]]. Prehistoric music is followed by [[ancient music]] in most of Europe (1500 BCE) and later musics in subsequent European-influenced areas, but still exists in isolated areas.
Prehistoric music thus technically includes all of the world's music that has existed before the advent of any currently-extant historical sources concerning that music, for example, traditional [[Native American music]] of preliterate tribes and [[Australian Aboriginal music]]. However, it is more common to call the "prehistoric" music of non-European continents, especially that which still survives, as [[folk music|folk]], indigenous or traditional music.
== Origin of music ==
The origin of [[music]] is not known as it occurred prior to the advent of recorded history. Some suggest that the origin of music likely stems from naturally occurring [[sound]]s and [[rhythm]]s. Human music may echo these [[phenomena]] using [[patterns]], [[repetition]] and [[tonality]]. Even nowadays, [[Imitation of natural sounds in various cultures|some cultures have certain instances of their music intending to imitate natural sounds]]. In some instances, [[Imitation of natural sounds related to various shamanistic beliefs or practice|this feature is related to shamanistic beliefs or practice]].<ref name=onom>[http://dasa.baua.de/nn_35984/sid_2C8A99B3F31A58C62BBE3312986DC568/nsc_true/de/Presse/Pressematerialien/Sonderausstellung_20Macht_20Musik/Schamanen-Musik.pdf Hoppál 2006: 143]</ref><ref name=soy>Diószegi 1960: 203</ref> It may serve also entertainment (game)<ref name=natt>Nattiez: 5</ref><ref name=desch>[http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/inuit.htm Deschênes 2002]</ref> or practical (luring animals in hunt)<ref name=natt/> functions.
Even aside from the bird song, [[monkey]]s have been witnessed to beat on hollow logs. Although this might serve some purpose of [[territorialism]], it suggests a degree of creativity and seems to incorporate a call and response [[dialogue]]. See: [[zoomusicology]].
It is possible that the first [[musical instrument]] was the [[human voice]] itself, which can make a vast array of sounds, from [[singing]], [[hum]]ming and [[whistling]] through to [[Click consonant|click]]ing, [[cough]]ing and [[yawn]]ing. (See Darwin's ''Origin of Species'' on music & speech.) The oldest known [[Neanderthal]] [[hyoid]] bone with the modern human form has been dated to be 60,000 years old,<ref>{{cite journal | author = B. Arensburg, A. M. Tillier, B. Vandermeersch, H. Duday, L. A. Schepartz & Y. Rak | year = 1989 | month = April | title = A Middle Palaeolithic human hyoid bone | journal = Nature | issue = 338 | pages = 758–760 | doi = 10.1038/338758a0 | volume = 338}}</ref> predating the oldest known bone [[flute]] by 10,000 years; but since both artifacts are unique the true chronology may date back much further.
Most likely the first rhythm instruments or [[percussion instruments]] involved the [[clapping]] of hands, stones hit together, or other things that are useful to create [[rhythm]] and indeed there are examples of musical instruments which date back as far as the [[paleolithic]], although there is some [http://www.dar.cam.ac.uk/dcrr/dcrr002.pdf ambiguity] over archaeological finds which can be variously interpreted as either musical or non-musical instruments/tools. Examples of paleolithic objects which are considered unambiguously musical are bone flutes or pipes; paleolithic finds which are open to interpretation are pierced phalanges (usually interpreted as '[[phalangeal whistles]]'), objects interpreted as [[bullroarers]], and [[rasps]].
Music can be theoretically traced to prior to the [[Oldowan]] era of the [[Paleolithic]] age, the [[anthropological]] and [[archeological]] designation suggests that music first arose (amongst humans) when stone tools first began to be used by [[Hominidae|hominid]]s. The [[noise]]s produced by work such as pounding seed and roots into meal is a likely source of rhythm created by early humans.
Prehistoric music varies greatly in [[musical genre|style]], function, general relation to [[culture]], and complexity. The [[Music of Mozambique#Timbila|Timbila]] music of the [[Chopi]] is considered one of the most complex preliterate musics{{Fact|date=January 2007}}.
== The oldest flutes ==
The oldest [[flute]] may be the disputed "Neanderthal flute" found in the [[Slovenia]]n cave [[Divje Babe]] I in 1995 by the [[Slovenes|Slovene]] [[paleontologist]] [[Ivan Turk]] of the [[Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts]]. It is estimated to be about 43,000 years old and was found in the fifth [[Mousterian]] level ([[Middle Paleolithic]]). The artifact is a hollow [[femur]] of a juvenile cave bear containing holes. Whether it is truly a musical instrument or simply a carnivore-chewed bone is a matter of ongoing debate.
During the estimated time of its origin, neither the technology of working bones nor the necessary artistic (symbolic) behaviour are supposed to have been developed{{Fact|date=March 2007}}, although weak signals exist for both{{Fact|date=March 2007}}.
The earliest unambiguously musical bone pipe is from Geissenklösterle in Germany, dates to about 36,000BP and is associated with modern humans.<ref>http://www.mus.cam.ac.uk/~ic108/lithoacoustics/BAR2002/BARpreprint.pdf</ref>
The oldest known wooden flutes were discovered near [[Greystones]], [[Ireland]], in 2004. A wood-lined pit contained a group of six flutes made from yew wood, between 30 and 50cm long, tapered at one end, but without any finger holes. They may once have been strapped together.<ref>http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1105308.htm</ref>
=== Oldest Chinese flutes ===
In 1986 several [[Gudi (instrument)|gudi]] (literally "bone flutes") were found in [[Jiahu]] in Henan Province, China. They date to about 6,000 BC. They have between 5 and 8 holes each and were made from the hollow bones of a bird, the [[red-crowned crane]]. At the time of the discovery, one was found to be still playable. The bone flute plays both the five- or seven-note scale of [[Xia Zhi]] and six-note scale of [[Qing Shang]] of the ancient [[Chinese musical system]].
== Cycladic culture ==
{{see|Cycladic culture}}
On the island of [[Keros]] (Κέρος), two marble statues from the late [[Neolithic]] culture called [[Early Cycladic culture]] (2900 BC-2000 BC) were discovered together in a single grave in the 19th century. They depict a standing [[double flute]] player and a sitting musician playing a triangular-shaped [[lyre]] or [[harp]]. The harpist is approximately 23 cm (nine inches) high and dates to around 2700-2500 BC. He expresses concentration and intense feelings and tilts his head up to the light. The meaning of these and many other figures is not known; perhaps they were used to ward off evil spirits or had religious significance or served as toys or depicted figures from mythology.
The discovery of this and similar pieces (they are very simplified and abstract in form) in the late 19th century had considerable influence on the sculpture of the early 20th century, for example on that by modernists such as [[Picasso]] and [[Amedeo Modigliani|Modigliani]].
== Earliest musical notation ==
{{main|Ancient music}}
The world's oldest known song is approximately 3,400 years old and written in [[Hurrian]] on a clay tablet found at the site of the city of [[Ugarit]] in the early 1950s. Due to the lack of confirmatory material, translations of the text differ, although [http://www.amaranthpublishing.com/hurrian.htm all current interpretations] agree that the music is diatonic. On some interpretations the music consists of two melodic lines and utilises both major and minor thirds, on other interpretations the music consists of one melodic line (is [[Monophony|monophonic]]) with a rhythmic accompaniment.
The First [[Delphic Hymn]] is the earliest unambiguous surviving example of notated music from anywhere in the world.
== See also ==
*[[Music and the brain]]
* [[Behavioral modernity]]
* [[Biomusicology]]
* [[Evolutionary musicology]]
* [[Ethnomusicology]]
* [[History of music]]
* [[Imitation of natural sounds in various cultures]]
* [[Onomatopoeia]]
* [[Origin of language]]
* [[Origin of music]]
* [[Origin of religion]]
* [[Prehistoric art]]
* [[Sound symbolism]]
==External links==
* [http://www.musica-romana.de Ensemble Musica Romana: Music from Antiquity, Prehistoric music]
* [http://homepage.eircom.net/~bronzeagehorns Prehistoric Music Ireland]
* [http://www.ancientinstruments.co.uk Sound sample and playing instructions for reconstructed bone flutes.]
* [http://www.nuim.ie/academic/music/abuckley/ab_publ.shtml Dr.Ann Buckely Publications]
* [http://www.ictmusic.org/ICTM/beta/stg/index.php?lcode=11 International Study Group on Music Archaeology] (International Council For Traditional Music)
* [http://www.uvi.si/eng/slovenia/background-information/neanderthal-flute/ Information about a supposed Neanderthal flute found in Slovenia] - the article written by Dr. Ivan Turk who discovered it.
* [http://www.carnyxscotland.co.uk The Carnyx, an ancient and magnificient war/ceremonial Horn]
* {{cite book |last=Hoppál |first=Mihály |chapter=Music of Shamanic Healing |editor=Gerhard Kilger |title=Macht Musik. Musik als Glück und Nutzen für das Leben |publisher=Wienand Verlag |location=Köln |year=2006 |isbn=3879098654 |chapterurl=http://dasa.baua.de/nn_35984/sid_2C8A99B3F31A58C62BBE3312986DC568/nsc_true/de/Presse/Pressematerialien/Sonderausstellung_20Macht_20Musik/Schamanen-Musik.pdf |url=http://www.deutschesfachbuch.de/info/detail.php?isbn=3879098654}}
== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}
== References ==
* {{cite web |last=Deschênes |first=Bruno |title=Inuit Throat-Singing |work=Musical Traditions |publisher=The Magazine for Traditional Music Throughout the World |year=2002 |url=http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/inuit.htm}}
* {{cite book |last=Diószegi |first=Vilmos |title=Sámánok nyomában Szibéria földjén. Egy néprajzi kutatóút története |publisher=Magvető Könyvkiadó |location=Budapest |year=1960 |language=Hungarian|url=http://mek.oszk.hu/02100/02181}} The book has been translated to English: {{cite book |last=Diószegi |first=Vilmos |title=Tracing shamans in Siberia. The story of an ethnographical research expedition |others=Translated from Hungarian by Anita Rajkay Babó |publisher=Anthropological Publications |location=Oosterhout |year=1968}}
* {{cite book |last=Hoppál |first=Mihály |chapter=Music of Shamanic Healing |editor=Gerhard Kilger |title=Macht Musik. Musik als Glück und Nutzen für das Leben |publisher=Wienand Verlag |location=Köln |year=2006 |isbn=3879098654 |chapterurl=http://dasa.baua.de/nn_35984/sid_2C8A99B3F31A58C62BBE3312986DC568/nsc_true/de/Presse/Pressematerialien/Sonderausstellung_20Macht_20Musik/Schamanen-Musik.pdf |url=http://www.deutschesfachbuch.de/info/detail.php?isbn=3879098654}}
* {{Citation |last=Nattiez |first=Jean Jacques |author-link=Jean-Jacques Nattiez |title=Inuit Games and Songs • Chants et Jeux des Inuit |series=Musiques & musiciens du monde • Musics & musicians of the world |publisher=Research Group in [[Music semiology|Musical Semiotics]], Faculty of Music, University of Montreal |place=Montreal}}. The songs are [http://www.ubu.com/ethno/soundings/inuit.html online available] from the [[ethnopoetics]] website curated by [[Jerome Rothenberg]].
*[[Steven Mithen]], ''The Singing Neanderthals: the Origins of Music, Language, Mind and Body'' (2006).
==Further reading==
*Ellen Hickmann, Anne D. Kilmer and Ricardo Eichmann, (ed.) ''Studies in Music Archaeology III'', 2001, VML Verlag Marie Leidorf GmbH., Germany ISBN 3-89646-640-2
*Wallin, Nils, Bjorn Merker, and Steven Brown, eds., ''The Origins of Music'', (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA., 2000). ISBN 0-262-23206-5. Compilation of essays.
*Engel, Carl, ''The Music of the Most Ancient Nations'', Wm. Reeves, 1929.
*Haik_Vantoura,Suzanne (1976). ''The Music of the Bible Revealed'' ISBN 978-2249271021
*Nettl, Bruno (1956). ''Music in Primitive Culture''. Harvard University Press.
*Sachs, Curt, ''The Rise of Music in the Ancient World, East and West'', W.W. Norton, 1943.
*Sachs, Curt, ''The Wellsprings of Music, McGraw-Hill'', 1965.
*Smith, Hermann, ''The World's Earliest Music'', Wm. Reeves, 1904.
[[Category:Ancient music]]
[[Category:Ethnomusicology]]
[[Category:Paleolithic]]
[[ca:Música prehistòrica]]
[[es:Música en la prehistoria]]
[[sk:Hudobný pravek]]
[[sh:Prahistorijska muzika]]