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Discovery In Slovenian Cave Raises Debate: Artifact With Holes May Be The Oldest Flute In The World — Or Just A Chewed Bone
In a cave in Slovenia, near the Idrijca River, archaeologists found a curious object in 1995. It was a bone fragment, about the size of a finger, with four circular holes and signs that it had been burned.
The artifact was found near an ancient hearth used by Neanderthals. For Ivan Turk, the leader of the excavation, there was no doubt: it was a flute — possibly the oldest musical instrument ever discovered.
Since then, the object has been known as the Divje Babe Flute, named after the cave where it was found.
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And what seemed to be a historical discovery soon became one of the biggest debates in modern archaeology. Was it, in fact, a flute made by Neanderthals? Or just a bone chewed by animals?
The Artifact That Changed Everything
The bone found could be between 43,000 and 50,000 years old. If it is indeed a musical instrument, it predates the ivory and vulture bone flutes created by Homo sapiens in Germany.
Turk and his colleagues from the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts argue that the four holes were made intentionally.
They would be arranged as in a wind instrument, where the fingers are positioned. Additionally, the ends of the bone are said to have been shaped and broken in a way that suggests human use.
Musicologist Bob Fink analyzed the object and highlighted the sequence of notes produced. According to him, the flute allows playing four notes of the diatonic scale: C, D, E, and F.
For Fink, this would indicate that the creator understood tonal relationships, something that requires abstract thinking and auditory memory. “We simply can’t conceive of it being any other way,” he wrote.
When Sound Comes From A Dream
Years after the discovery, Slovenian trumpeter Ljuben Dimkaroski decided to test the theory. He received a clay replica of the supposed flute.
According to him, the technique for playing the instrument came to him in a dream. With practice, he was able to extract surprising sounds.
In a short film, Dimkaroski is seen playing excerpts of Slovenian folk songs, the famous “Ode to Joy” by Beethoven, and even Ravel’s “Bolero.” He also improvised animal sounds and other effects to demonstrate the piece’s versatility.
Together with Turk, he published an article arguing that the instrument was evidence of the symbolic capability of Neanderthals.
The Bite Mark Theory
But the flute version is not accepted by everyone. German paleobiologist Cajus Diedrich analyzed the artifact in 2015 and reached a different conclusion.
He compared the Divje Babe bone with materials found at 15 archaeological sites in Europe.
For Diedrich, the holes were not made by humans. He claims they are bite marks made by Ice Age hyenas, which had powerful jaws and chewed on cave bear cub bones.
Archaeologist April Nowell from the University of Victoria also supports this view. For her, most scholars in the field now consider the artifact not a flute, but rather a bone chewed by carnivores.
Flute Or Not, The Debate Continues
Still, the discussion is far from over. Proponents of the flute hypothesis argue that the holes are regular and well-spaced enough to have not been made by chance.
The National Museum of Slovenia, where the artifact is displayed, still presents it as the oldest known musical instrument.
The display plaque reads: “The Divje Babe Flute attests to the fact that Neanderthals were capable of such an abstract and uniquely human activity as creating music.”
More Than An Instrument
The controversy surrounding the Divje Babe Flute goes beyond the object itself. At the core of the debate is the image of Neanderthals.
For many years, they were seen as brutish beings, incapable of creating art or developing culture.
This view has changed in recent decades. Archaeological discoveries show that Neanderthals buried their dead, produced tools, and may have even used pigments to create art.
The flute, if confirmed, would be powerful evidence that they also made music.
This raises a new question: Did Neanderthals exhibit symbolic behavior like early Homo sapiens? If so, the difference between the species may have been smaller than once thought.
Music Lost In Time?
Even if the bone was inadvertently used as an instrument, that does not prove that Neanderthals produced music as part of their culture.
It’s also possible they used instruments made from materials that have not survived time, like wood or reeds. Or that they used only their voice or body to create sounds.
But to this day, no other musical instrument has been directly linked to Neanderthals. “It’s possible,” said April Nowell, “but no evidence of instruments or musical behavior has been found yet.”
With information from ZME Science.
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