BERLIN — A bird-bone flute unearthed in a German cave was carved 35,000 years ago and is the oldest handcrafted musical instrument yet discovered, archaeologists say, offering the latest evidence that early modern humans in Europe had established a complex and creative culture.
A team led by University of Tuebingen archaeologist Nicholas Conard assembled the flute from 12 pieces of griffon vulture bone scattered in the Hohle Fels cave in southern Germany.
Together, the pieces make up an 8.6-inch instrument with five holes and a notched end.
The reassembled instrument was too fragile to be played, but Conard made a copy from the same type of bone and to play songs such as “The Star-Spangled Banner.” His findings were published online Wednesday by the journal Nature.
Wil Roebroeks, an archaeologist at Leiden University in the Netherlands, said it’s difficult to say how cognitively and socially advanced these people were. But the physical trappings of their lives — including musical instruments, personal decorations and figurative art — match the objects people associate with modern human behavior.
