The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #121820 Message #2664661
Posted By: GUEST,leeneia
25-Jun-09 - 04:35 PM
Thread Name: Oldest known musical instrument
Subject: RE: Oldest known musical instrument
I read a lot of books, so I can't remember which book told this. But once a team was doing archeology in a cave that had been inhabited by primitive hominids - earlier than the Neanderthals. The team was baffled by certain smooth places on cave formations. Finally somebody tried hitting the stone and discovered that different formations made different made notes. Having discovered that, it was only natural to start hitting one after another to make music.
That cave, wherever it was, was probably the first musical instrument. We're not even talking Homo sapiens yet.
I've heard the same sounds in a cave here in Missouri. The player was our 12-year-old guide, and he called it rock music.