Prehistoric music

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In the history of music, prehistoric music (previously called primitive music) is all music produced in preliterate cultures (prehistory), beginning somewhere in very late geological history. Prehistoric music is followed by ancient music in most of Europe (1500 BCE) and later musics in subsequent European-influenced areas, but still exists in isolated areas.

Prehistoric music thus technically includes all of the world's music that has existed before the advent of any currently-extant historical sources concerning that music, for example, traditional Native American music of preliterate tribes and Australian Aboriginal music. However, it is more common to call the "prehistoric" music of non-European continents, especially that which still survives, as folk, indigenous or traditional music.

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[edit] Origin of music

The origin of music is not known as it occurred prior to the advent of recorded history. Some suggest that the origin of music likely stems from naturally occurring sounds and rhythms. Human music may echo these phenomena using patterns, repetition and tonality. Even aside from the bird song, monkeys have been witnessed to beat on hollow logs. Although this might serve some purpose of territorialism, it suggests a degree of creativity and seems to incorporate a call and response dialogue. See: zoomusicology.

It is possible that the first musical instrument was the human voice itself, which can make a vast array of sounds, from singing, humming and whistling through to clicking, coughing and yawning. (See Darwin's Origin of Species on music & speech.) The oldest known Neanderthal hyoid bone with the modern human form has been dated to be 60,000 years old[1], predating the oldest known bone flute by 10,000 years; but since both artifacts are unique the true chronology may date back much further.

Most likely the first rhythm instruments or percussion instruments involved the clapping of hands, stones hit together, or other things that are useful to create rhythm.

Music can be theoretically traced to prior to the Oldowan era of the Paleolithic age, the anthropological and archeological designation that suggests when stone tools first began to be used by hominids. The noises produced by work such as pounding seed and roots into meal is a likely source of rhythm created by early humans.

Prehistoric music varies greatly in style, function, general relation to culture, and complexity. The Timbila music of the Chopi is considered one of the most complex preliterate musics[citation needed].

[edit] Oldest known song

The world's oldest known song (Assyrian cuneiform artifacts) is 4,000 years old inscribed into a clay tablet. It is diatonic, and is the oldest example of harmony, similar to English gymel. While subjectively "old", it cannot be said to be "prehistoric" because it is described in a written history.

The First Delphic Hymn is the earliest unambiguous surviving example of notated music from anywhere in the western world.

[edit] The oldest flutes

The oldest flute may be the be the disputed "Neanderthal flute" found in Slovenia in 1995 an the cave Divje Babe I (Idrijca Valley, Western Slovenia) by the Slovenian paleontologist Dr. Ivan Turk of Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SAZU). It is estimated to be about 43,000 years old and was found in the fifth Mousterian level (Middle Paleolithic). The artifact is a hollow femur of a juvenile cave bear containing holes. Whether it is truly a musical instrument or simply a carnivore-chewed bone is a matter of ongoing debate.

See: Divje Babe

At the time to which it dates, neither the technology of working bones nor the necessary artistic (symbolic) behaviour are supposed to have been developed[citation needed], although weak signals exist for both[citation needed], the number of which is gradually increasing with new finds. The Neanderthal was likely intellectually closer to modern humans than has previously been accepted.

[edit] Ancient Chinese flutes

In 1999 several Gudi (instrument) (literally "bone flutes") were found in Jiahu in Henan Province, China. They date to about 9,000 BC. They have between 5 and 8 holes each and were made from the hollow bones of a bird, the red-crowned crane. At the time of the discovery, one was found to be still playable. The bone flute plays both the five- or seven-note scale of Xia Zhi and six-note scale of Qing Shang of the ancient Chinese musical system.

[edit] Cycladic culture

In the Aegean sea (eastern Mediterranean Sea), north of Crete lies a group of small islands known as the Cyclades (Κυκλαδες). On one of these, the island of Keros (Κερος), two marble statues from the late Neolithic culture called Early Cycladic culture (2900 BC-2000 BC) were discovered together in a single grave in the 19th century. They depict a standing double flute player and a sitting musician playing a triangular-shaped lyre or harp. The harpist is approximately 23 cm (nine inches) high and dates to around 2700-2500 BC. He expresses concentration and intense feelings and tilts his head up to the light. The meaning of these and many other figures is not known; perhaps they were used to ward off evil spirits or had religious significance or served as toys or depicted figures from mythology.

The discovery of this and similar pieces (they are very simplified and abstract in form) in the late 19th century had considerable influence on the sculpture of the early 20th century, for example on that by modernists such as Picasso and Modigliani.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Further reading

  • Ellen Hickmann, Anne D. Kilmer and Ricardo Eichmann, (ed.) Studies in Music Archaeology III, 2001, VML Verlag Marie Leidorf GmbH., Germany ISBN 3-89646-640-2
  • Wallin, Nils, Bjorn Merker, and Steven Brown, eds., The Origins of Music, (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA., 2000). ISBN 0-262-23206-5. Compilation of essays.
  • Engel, Carl, The Music of the Most Ancient Nations, Wm. Reeves, 1929.
  • Haik_Vantoura,Suzanne (1976). The Music of the Bible Revealed ISBN 978-2249271021
  • Nettl, Bruno (1956). Music in Primitive Culture. Harvard University Press.
  • Sachs, Curt, The Rise of Music in the Ancient World, East and West, W.W. Norton, 1943.
  • Sachs, Curt, The Wellsprings of Music, McGraw-Hill, 1965.
  • Smith, Hermann, The World's Earliest Music, Wm. Reeves, 1904.
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