2. Archeomusicology
As the findings which we report here assume a high degree of musical
and arithmetical sophistication on the part of preliterate humans
before 23,000 BC, we may begin with a review of some recent
archeomusicological discoveries which support this assumption.
A Neanderthal flute
Currently the oldest known musical instrument, this is a
segment of the femur bone of a cave bear, dated 43,000 to
82,000 B.P. It has two complete holes and two partial holes,
one at each end of the broken fragment. It was found in 1997,
at a Neanderthal campsite, by paleontologist Ivan Turk of the
Slovenian Academy of Sciences, and has been analyzed by Canadian
musicologist Bob Fink. Its tuning corresponds to Mi-Fa-Sol-La of
the diatonic scale. For more details, see:
Bob Fink