Musical erasPrehistoricAncient (before 500 AD)Early (5001760)Common practice (16001900)Modern and contemporary (1900present)

Prehistoric musicFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Prehistoric music (previously primitive music) is a term inthe history of music for all music produced in preliteratecultures (prehistory), beginning somewhere in very lategeological history. Prehistoric music is followed by ancientmusic in different parts of the world, but still exists inisolated areas. However, it is more common to refer to the"prehistoric" music which still survives as folk, indigenousor traditional music. Prehistoric music is studied alongsideother periods within music archaeology.

Contents1 Origins2 Prehistoric musical instruments3 Flutes4 Archaeoacoustic methodology5 Cycladic culture6 See also7 Notes8 References9 Further reading10 External links

OriginsResearch on the evolutionary origins of music mostly started in the second half of the 19th century, andwas much discussed within Music Archaeology in the 20th Century. After the appearance of the collectionof articles "The Origins of Music" (Wallin, Merker, Brown, 2000) the subject was a debated topic ofhuman evolutionary history. There are currently many hypotheses (not necessarily conflicting) about theorigins of music.

Some suggest that the origin of music likely stems from naturally occurring sounds and rhythms. Humanmusic may echo these phenomena using patterns, repetition and tonality. Even today, some cultures havecertain instances of their music intending to imitate natural sounds. In some instances, this feature is relatedto shamanistic beliefs or practice.[1][2] It may also serve entertainment (game)[3][4] or practical (luringanimals in hunt)[3] functions.

Even aside from the bird song, monkeys have been witnessed to beat on hollow logs. Although this mightserve some purpose of territorialism, it suggests a degree of creativity and seems to incorporate a call andresponse dialogue. See: zoomusicology.

Explanations of the origin of music depend on how music is defined. If we assume that music is a form ofintentional emotional manipulation, music as we know it was not possible until the onset of intentionality -the ability to reflect about the past and the future. Between 60,000 and 30,000 years ago humans started

creating art in the form of paintings on cave walls, jewelry and so on (the "cultural explosion"). They alsostarted to bury their dead ceremonially. If we assume that these new forms of behavior reflect theemergence of intentionality, then music as we know it must also have emerged during that period.

From a psychological viewpoint, the question of the origin of music is difficult to answer. Music evokesstrong emotions and changed states of awareness. Generally, strong emotions are associated with evolution(sex and survival). But there is no clear link between music and sex, or between music and survival.Regarding sex, musicians often may use music to attract mates (as for example male birds may use theirplumage to attract females), but that is just one of many functions of music and one of many ways toattract mates. Regarding survival, societies with a musical culture may be better able to survive because themusic coordinates their emotions, helps important messages to be communicated within the group (inritual), motivates them to identify with the group, and motivates them to support other group members.However it is difficult to demonstrate that effects of this kind can enhance the survival of one group incompetition with other groups. Once music exists, effects of this kind may promote its development but itis unclear whether they can explain musics ultimate origin.

Another possible origin of music is motherese, the vocal-gestural communication between adults (usuallymothers) and infants.[5] This form of communication involves melodic, rhythmic and movement patterns aswell as the communication of intention and meaning, and in this sense is similar to music. Motherese hastwo main functions: to strengthen bonding between mother and infant, and to help the infant to acquirelanguage. Both of these functions enhance the infants chances of survival and may therefore be subject tonatural selection.

Motherese has a gestural vocabulary that is similar across cultures. The way mothers and babies raise andlower their voices and simultaneously change their expressions and move their hands is similar in Asia andEurope, for example (in spite of linguistic differences such as tone languages versus non-tone languages).The apparent universality of motherese could be explained either genetically or by universals of the humanenvironment. A genetic explanation for the vocabulary of motherese would have to be biological andevolutionary; no such explanation has yet been found. Regarding environment, motherese may stem fromuniversals of the prenatal environment. The human fetus can hear for 20 weeks before birth - considerablylonger than other animals, most of which cannot hear before birth at all. The fetus can also perceivemovement and orientation for 20 weeks before birth. This is presumably not an accident of evolution, butan adaptation that promotes the survival of the infant after birth by improving bonding between the infantand the mother. If the fetus learns to perceive the emotional state of the mother via the internal sounds ofher body (voice, heartbeat, footsteps, digestion etc.), it can presumably adjust its postnatal demands (e.g.crying) depending on her availability and in that way enhance its own survival as a fragile being in adangerous world. Research on the ability of the fetus to learn and remember sound patterns, and on theactive two-way nature of mother-infant communication, is consistent with this theory. If this theory is true,the internal sounds of the human body and the relationship between those patterns and emotional state maybe the ultimate source of the relationship between patterns of sound and movement in music and theirstrong emotional connotations. This theory is consistent with the universal link between music and religionand the changed states of consciousness that music can co-evoke.

Charles Darwins idea about the importance of music for human sexual selection found a new developmentin Millers idea of the role of musical display for "demonstrating fitness to mate".[6] Based on the ideas ofhonest signal and the handicap principle, Miller suggested that music and dancing, as energetically costlyactivities, were to demonstrate the physical and psychological fitness of the singing and dancing individualto the prospective mates. Critics of this approach note how in most species where singing is used for thepurposes of sexual selection through female choice, only males sing (as it is males, who are trying toimpress females with different audio and visual displays), and besides, males as a rule sing alone.

Among humans both males and females are ardent singers, and making music is mostly a communalactivity. Communal singing by both sexes occurs among many cooperatively breeding songbirds ofAustralia and Africa such as the butcherbirds,[7] fairywrens, white-browed sparrow weaver[8] andTurdoides species, but is absent from non-hominid mammals.

Prehistoric musical instrumentsIt is likely that the first musical instrument was the human voice itself, which can make a vast array ofsounds, from singing, humming and whistling through to clicking, coughing and yawning. (See DarwinsOrigin of Species on music & speech.) The oldest known Neanderthal hyoid bone with the modern humanform has been dated to be 60,000 years old,[9] predating the oldest known Paleolithic bone flute by some20,000 years,[10] but the true chronology may date back much further.

Most likely the first rhythm instruments or percussion instruments involved the clapping of hands, stoneshit together, or other things that are useful to create rhythm and indeed there are examples of musicalinstruments which date back as far as the paleolithic, although there is some ambiguity [11] overarchaeological 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 "phalangealwhistles"), objects interpreted as Bullroarers, and rasps.

Music can be thetically traced to prior to the Oldowan era of the Paleolithic age, the anthropological andarchaeological designation suggests that music first arose (among humans) when stone tools first began tobe used by hominids. The noises produced by work such as pounding seed and roots into meal is a likelysource of rhythm created by early humans.

FlutesThe oldest flute ever discovered may be the so-called Divje Babe flute, found in the Slovenian cave DivjeBabe I in 1995, though this is disputed.[12] The item in question is a fragment of the femur of a juvenilecave bear, and has been dated to about 43,000 years ago.[13][14] However, whether it is truly a musicalinstrument or simply a carnivore-chewed bone is a matter of ongoing debate.[12] In 2012 some flutes, thatwere discovered years earlier in the Geienklsterle cave, received a new high resolution carbon datingexamination yielding an age of 42,000 to 43,000 years.[15]

In 2008, archaeologists discovered a bone flute in the Hohle Fels cave near Ulm, Germany.[16][17] Thefive-holed flute has a V-shaped mouthpiece and is made from a vulture wing bone. The researchersinvolved in the discovery officially published their findings in the journal Nature in June 2009. It is one ofseveral similar instruments found in the area, which date to at least 35,000 years ago, making this one ofthe oldest confirmed find of any musical instruments in history.[18] The Hohle Fels flute was found next tothe Venus of Hohle Fels and a short distance from the oldest known human carving.[19] On announcing thediscovery, scientists suggested that the "finds demonstrate the presence of a well-established musicaltradition at the time when modern humans colonized Europe".[20] Scientists have also suggested that thediscovery of the flute may help to explain why early humans survived, while Neanderthals becameextinct.[18]

The oldest known wooden pipes were discovered in Wicklow, Ireland, in the winter of 2003. A wood-lined

Cycladic statues of a double fluteplayer (foreground) and a harpist(background)

pit contained a group of six flutes made from yew wood, between 30 and 50 cm long, tapered at one end,but without any finger holes. They may once have been strapped together.[21]

In 1986, several gudi (literally "bone flutes") were found in Jiahu in Henan Province, China. They date toabout 6000 BCE. 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 fluteplays both the five- or seven-note scale of Xia Zhi and six-note scale of Qing Shang of the ancient Chinesemusical system.

Archaeoacoustic methodologyThe use of the term 'music' is problematic within prehistory. It may be that, as in the traditional music ofmuch of sub-Saharan Africa, the concept of 'music' as we understand it was somewhat different. Manylanguages traditionally have terms for music that include dance, religion or cult. The context in whichprehistoric music took place has also become a subject of much study, as the sound made by music inprehistory would have been somewhat different depending on the acoustics present. The field ofarchaeoacoustics uses acoustic techniques to explore prehistoric sounds, soundscapes and instruments, andhas included the study of ringing rocks and lithophones, of the acoustics of ritual sites such as chambertombs and stone circles, and the exploration of prehistoric instruments using acoustic testing. Such workhas included acoustic field tests to capture and analyse the impulse response of archaeological sites;acoustic tests of lithophones or 'rock gongs'; and reconstructions of soundscapes as experimentalarchaeology.

An academic research network, the Acoustics and Music of British Prehistory Research Network(http://ambpnetwork.wordpress.com/), has explored this field.

Cycladic cultureOn the island of Keros (), two marble statues from the lateNeolithic culture called Early Cycladic culture (2900-2000 BCE)were discovered together in a single grave in the 19th century. Theydepict a standing double flute player and a sitting musician playinga triangular-shaped lyre or harp. The harpist is approximately 23 cm(9 in) high and dates to around 2700-2500 BCE. He expressesconcentration and intense feelings and tilts his head up to the light.The meaning of these and many other figures is not known; perhapsthey were used to ward off evil spirits or had religious significanceor served as toys or depicted figures from mythology.

See alsoAncient musicBehavioral modernityCognitive neuroscience of musicEvolutionary musicologyInternational Study Group on Music ArchaeologyOnomatopoeiaOrigin of languageOrigins of religionPrehistoric art

Sound symbolism

Notes1. Hoppl 2006: 143

(http://dasa.baua.de/nn_35984/sid_2C8A99B3F31A58C62BBE3312986DC568/nsc_true/de/Presse/Pressematerialien/Sonderausstellung_20Macht_20Musik/Schamanen-Musik.pdf)

2. Diszegi 1960: 2033. Nattiez: 54. Deschnes 2002 (http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/inuit.htm)5. Dissanayake, E. (2000). Antecedents of the temporal arts in early mother-infant interaction. In The origins of

music. Edited by Nils Wallin, Bjorn Merker and Steven Brown, pp. 389-410. Cambridge, MA: MassachusettsInstitute of Technology, pg 389-410

6. Miller, G. (2000). Evolution of human music through sexual selection. In The origins of music. Edited by NilsWallin, Bjorn Merker and Steven Brown, pp. 329-360. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology,pg. 389-410

7. Brown, Eleanor D. and Farabaugh, Susan M.; Song Sharing in a Group-Living Songbird, the Australian Magpie,Gymnorhina tibicen. Part III. Sex Specificity and Individual Specificity of Vocal Parts in Communal Chorus andDuet Songs in Behaviour, Vol. 118, No. 3/4 (September 1991), pp. 244-274

8. Voigt, Cornelia; Leitner, Stefan and Gahr, Manfred; Repertoire and structure of duet and solo songs incooperatively breeding white-browed sparrow weavers(http://vogelwarte.mpg.de/documents/leitner/Behaviour2.pdf) in Behaviour; Vol. 143, No. 2 (February 2006), pp.159-182

9. B. Arensburg, A. M. Tillier, B. Vandermeersch, H. Duday, L. A. Schepartz & Y. Rak (April 1989). "A MiddlePalaeolithic human hyoid bone". Nature 338 (6218): 758760. doi:10.1038/338758a0(https://dx.doi.org/10.1038%2F338758a0). PMID 2716823 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2716823).

10. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com (http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/06/24/worlds-oldest-flute-shows-first-europeans-were-a-musical-bunch/)

11. http://www.dar.cam.ac.uk (http://www.dar.cam.ac.uk/dcrr/dcrr002.pdf)12. d'Errico, Francesco, Paola Villa, Ana C. Pinto Llona, and Rosa Ruiz Idarraga (1998). "A Middle Palaeolithic

origin of coool? Using cave-bear bone accumulations to assess the Divje Babe I bone 'flute' "(http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/072/Ant0720065.htm) (ABSTRACT). Antiquity. 72 (March): 6579.

13. Tenenbaum, David (June 2000). "Neanderthal jam" (http://whyfiles.org/114music/4.html). The Why Files.University of Wisconsin, Board of Regents. Retrieved 14 March 2006.

14. Flute History (http://cogweb.ucla.edu/ep/FluteDebate.html), UCLA. Retrieved June 2007.15. Earliest music instruments found (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18196349)16. Wilford, John N. (June 24, 2009). "Flutes Offer Clues to Stone-Age Music"

(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/science/25flute.html). Nature (The New York Times) 459 (7244): 24852.doi:10.1038/nature07995 (https://dx.doi.org/10.1038%2Fnature07995). PMID 19444215(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19444215). Retrieved June 29, 2009.

17. http://www.epoc.de/artikel/999323&_z=79889018. " 'Oldest musical instrument' found" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8117915.stm). BBC news. 2009-06-25.

Retrieved 2009-06-26.19. "Music for cavemen" (http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/06/24/1976108.aspx). MSNBC. 2009-06-24.

Retrieved 2009-06-26.20. "Flutes Offer Clues to Stone-Age Music" (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/science/25flute.html?

_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss). The New York Times. 2009-06-24. Retrieved 2009-06-26.21. Clint Goss (2012). "The Wicklow Pipes / The Development of Flutes in Europe and Asia"

(http://Flutopedia.com/dev_flutes_euroasia.htm#Wicklow_Pipes). Flutopedia. Retrieved 2012-01-09.

ReferencesDeschnes, Bruno (2002). "Inuit Throat-Singing" (http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/inuit.htm).Musical Traditions. The Magazine for Traditional Music Throughout the World.Diszegi, Vilmos (1960). Smnok nyomban Szibria fldjn. Egy nprajzi kutatt trtnete

(http://mek.oszk.hu/02100/02181) (in Hungarian). Budapest: Magvet Knyvkiad. The book hasbeen translated to English: Diszegi, Vilmos (1968). Tracing shamans in Siberia. The story of anethnographical research expedition. Translated from Hungarian by Anita Rajkay Bab. Oosterhout:Anthropological Publications.Hoppl, Mihly (2006). "Music of Shamanic Healing"(http://dasa.baua.de/nn_35984/sid_2C8A99B3F31A58C62BBE3312986DC568/nsc_true/de/Presse/Pressematerialien/Sonderausstellung_20Macht_20Musik/Schamanen-Musik.pdf) (PDF). In GerhardKilger. Macht Musik. Musik als Glck und Nutzen fr das Leben(http://www.deutschesfachbuch.de/info/detail.php?isbn=3-87909-865-4). Kln: Wienand Verlag.ISBN 3-87909-865-4.Nattiez, Jean Jacques. "Inuit Games and Songs Chants et Jeux des Inuit". Musiques & musiciens dumonde Musics & musicians of the world. Montreal: Research Group in Musical Semiotics, Facultyof Music, University of Montreal.. The songs are online available(http://www.ubu.com/ethno/soundings/inuit.html) from the ethnopoetics website curated by JeromeRothenberg.Steven Mithen, The Singing Neanderthals: the Origins of Music, Language, Mind and Body (2006).Sorce Keller, M. "Origini della musica", in Alberto Basso (eds.), Dizionario EnciclopedicoUniversale della Musica e dei Musicisti, Torino, UTET, III (1984), 494- 500.Parncutt, R (2009). "Prenatal and infant conditioning, the mother schema, and the origins of musicand religion." (http://www.uni-graz.at/richard.parncutt/publications/Pa08_prenatal_musicaescientiae.pdf) (PDF). Musicae Scientiae,Special issue on Music and Evolution (Ed. O. Vitouch & O. Ladinig), 119-150.Hagen, EH and; Hammerstein P (2009). "Did Neanderthals and other early humans sing? Seeking thebiological roots of music in the loud calls of primates, lions, hyenas, and wolves"(http://anthro.vancouver.wsu.edu/media/PDF/musicae.pdf) (PDF). Musicae Scientiae.

Further readingEllen Hickmann, Anne D. Kilmer and Ricardo Eichmann, (ed.) Studies in Music Archaeology III,2001, VML Verlag Marie Leidorf GmbH., Germany ISBN 3-89646-640-2Wallin, 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 978-2-249-27102-1Nettl, 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.

External linksEnsemble Musica Romana: Music from Antiquity, Prehistoric music (http://www.musica-romana.de)Prehistoric Music Ireland (http://homepage.eircom.net/~bronzeagehorns)Sound sample and playing instructions for reconstructed bone flutes.(http://www.ancientinstruments.co.uk)Dr.Ann Buckely Publications (http://www.nuim.ie/academic/music/abuckley/ab_publ.shtml)Information about a supposed Neanderthal flute found in Slovenia(http://www.uvi.si/eng/slovenia/background-information/neanderthal-flute/) - the article written byDr. Ivan Turk who discovered it.The Carnyx, an ancient and magnificent war/ceremonial Horn (http://www.carnyxscotland.co.uk)Acoustics and Music of British Music Prehistory (http://ambpnetwork.wordpress.com/)Hoppl, Mihly (2006). "Music of Shamanic Healing"(http://dasa.baua.de/nn_35984/sid_2C8A99B3F31A58C62BBE3312986DC568/nsc_true/de/Presse/Pr

essematerialien/Sonderausstellung_20Macht_20Musik/Schamanen-Musik.pdf) (PDF). In GerhardKilger. Macht Musik. Musik als Glck und Nutzen fr das Leben(http://www.deutschesfachbuch.de/info/detail.php?isbn=3-87909-865-4). Kln: Wienand Verlag.ISBN 3-87909-865-4.

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Categories: Ancient music Ethnomusicology Prehistory Cognitive musicology

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