Reconstructing human music with hard evidence

Abstract

Philosophers have long discussed the origins of music and language and used them as an argument to set humans apart from other animals. For evidence we rely on archaeology, anthropology and even biology, and on historical depictions and descriptions. In the case of music we have some hard evidence in the form of ancient bone flutes. Their physical reconstructions are important tools in the quest for origins, but open to interpretation and controversy. As a biologist-flutist I have been skeptical of many resulting “models” that have been proposed. Here I submit some of the main obstacles I encounter in reconstructing 4,000 to 50,000 year-old bone flutes in hopes of hearing their music. How do we define what is a flute? Which physical reconstruction is most credible? Which sounds can it make? Is there a recognizable scale and is that scale credibly constrained? Which sounds constitute music? Is “our” music related to “their” music? While flutes have been preserved in the pre-historic record and their finger holes suggest a musical scale, the oldest evidence is sufficiently weak to allow for many interpretations and vociferous debates. I will demonstrate these questions with a few reconstructions and different types of flutes.