Reader Question – Eduardo Reeve, Niterói, RJ
It was the flute. Since 1995, archaeological excavations in caves and mountain ranges in Europe and Southeast Asia have unearthed around 30 specimens made from vulture tibia, bear femur and mammoth ivory. Dating back to the Upper Paleo-Lithic period, the finds are between 43,000 and 82,000 years old, strengthening the theory that early modern humans played the flute to interact socially or in religious rituals. By coincidence, scientists even discovered a musical scale. It was calculated from the disposition between the holes of the flutes. Check out the four oldest instruments below.
millennial orchestra
Music helped Homo sapiens develop their culture
FLUTE
Age – Between 43,000 and 82,000 years
In Babylon and Sumeria, hollow branches were used by sorcerers to invoke gods and control nature. Hieroglyphics from the pre-dynastic period of Egypt show that manufacturing with bones was replaced by bronze and spread throughout the Arab world through caravans of artists who performed in palaces
Whistle
Age – Between 20,000 and 30,000 years old
It served to communicate location among prehistoric tribes: scouts from a village would whistle to announce their presence, so that other groups would recognize them. Indigenous peoples who lived in South America between 9 and 7 thousand years ago had whistles that imitated the song of birds
Harp
Age – Between 3,000 and 3,500 years
Several of these instruments have been found in moats and royal tombs in the city of Ur in Mesopotamia. Its fame, however, took place in Persia and ancient Greece, with the arched and gold model being the most coveted. It became one of the symbols of Christianity incorporated into the image of saints and cherubs.
Drum
Age – Between 4,350 and 7,500 years old
The first batucadas sounded in China during the Neolithic period and came from tambourines covered with alligator skin and from tree trunks hollowed out like barrels. From Asia, they gained Europe and Africa through wars. They were played to herald the birth of heroes and encourage armies.
Sources: SUPERINTERESSANTE and NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazines and Terra, BBC, O Estado de S. Paulo, InfoEscola and UOL websites
See too:
+How is a symphony composed?
+ Who invented the electric guitar?
+ How did the berimbau come about?
+ What instruments make up an orchestra?