Anthropology of musical instruments/Significance?

Early  Music

Pre-human musician or Photoshop?

Neanderthal reproduction

This post asks and partially answers the questions:

When did Homo Sapiens initiate instrumental music?
Did earlier Homo species play instrumental music?
What is the status of anthropologists findings concerning instrumental music?

Having just completed an online  Coursera course " A Brief History of Mankind" by K.N. Hariri these questions arise. (When repeated, take this course!)


We know that several human species have roamed the earth- Homo Erectus, Homo Soloensis, Homo Floresiensis, Homo Denisova, Homo Rudolfensis, Homo Ergaster, and Homo Neanderthal. At this point in time, only Homo Sapiens survives although some evidence of interbreeding is suggested! Curiously, some of these alternate species remained as recently as 12,000 years ago!

Homo Sapiens has done well. After originating in East Africa approximately 100,000 years ago and breaking out into the middle east and beyond, our species has thrived. This is especially true over the last 70,000 years. For this last period, we have mastered languages and social skills which have proved decisive in our competitions with animals and earlier species. Anthropologists call this the "cognitive revolution". It embraces skills in tools, art, trade, religion, and music. So what do we know about early instrumental music?



Since 1977, archaeology and musicology issues have been pursued as a single topic. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_archaeology

Homo Sapiens arrived in Europe making instrumental music. Probably earlier music-making humans were there. The earliest instruments as wind instruments- flute made out of bone. These date from 42,000 BC. The following wiki explains:
http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/article00343.htmldata:image/jpeg;
Chinese flutes from 8,000 BC have been studied and are still playable and a Chinese folk song can be heard as rendered on on of these flutes!
http://archive.archaeology.org/9911/newsbriefs/flute.html

Differential preservation matters; stringed instruments are not so robust. The Isle of Skye has yielded a remnant of a bridge 2300 years of age!
http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2012/03/europes-earliest-string-instrument.html#.Uqs9CfRDuSp

But did other human species do music?  Iain Morley, Cambridge University, recently published a thesis on music performance by four modern hunter/gatherer societies. His backup  historical review of archaeological evidence goes back 300,000 years and earlier! Evidence suggests music from pre-Sapiens man. Vocal anatomy would have been sufficiently developed at the time of Homo Ergaster so several human species may have made vocal music. Music making may have contributed significantly to the "cognitive revolution" which is dated to only 70,000 years past. See the following link for more on this subject (note the great illustrations).
www.darwin.ac.uk/dcrr/dcrr002.pdf  Music (as well as symbolism) appears fundamental to the development of our species to the point of today's capabilities.

A topic to be explored might be the future of instrumental music by enhanced Homo Sapiens. Can "mind control" techniques be used to advantage? Can a SUPER robot arm make/play better music? Are "cyborgs" coming to become real "rock stars"!