Neanderthal Man's Flute

1997/03/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Paleontologia
• Giza zientziak
• Arkeologia

The “flute” of Slovenia is the femoral part of the cave bear, with four holes. It is at least 43,000 years old and has been found in the cave of Divje Babe, in Slovenia, along with the instruments of the Neanderthal man. Besides being the oldest composer so far, it is the only artistic expression of the man of Neanderthal.

So far they have been found in Europe (Isturitz de Euskal Herria) and Asia txistus or xirulas made with bones of large birds or mammals to hunt or play, but always more recent, that is, belonging to the Homo sapiens sapiens.

Since their dating was not possible through the 14 carbon system, they have studied the sediment layer in which they have found their origin. To this end, they investigated the dental enamel of the bear in this layer.