History and Ancient Origins of Music

Echoes of the Stone Age

Looking for the ancient origins of music, we run into a bit of an issue. This period of early man is considered the Stone Age, largely because stone is what remains. Evolutionarily speaking, hominids and proto-humans existed long before this era, but the first concrete records of humanity emerge alongside the artifacts of the Stone Age: flint axes, obsidian arrowheads, and worked stones used as tools. These durable items have survived the millennia, while almost everything else has deteriorated. This includes any music-related artifacts

However, despite this, we know that early humans were capable of incredible feats. They navigated the Ice Age, formed complex societies, and created stunning art. It is logical to assume that if they had the capacity for these achievements, they also possessed the capacity for complex language and, inevitably, song.

The Biological Instrument

To understand the origins of music, we must first look at the evolution of human vocal capacity. Central to this is the hyoid bone, a small, horseshoe-shaped bone in the neck that anchors the tongue and allows for the articulation of complex speech. Interestingly, this bone has been found in human ancestors dating back as far as 500,000 years. This suggests that early man—even before the Neanderthals, possessed the physiological hardware to sing, even if we cannot prove they did.

But why would they want to sing in the first place? In the animal kingdom, animals ranging from songbirds to primates use noises, songs, and structured calls as a prelude to mating. The most successful “creator” of these songs often secures the right to reproduce and pass on their genes. It is likely that early humans utilized melody for the same evolutionary purpose.

Furthermore, we observe a universal behavior across species where females communicate with their offspring using special sounds. Human mothers use “Motherese”—high-pitched notes, slowed tempos, and repetitive melodies—to soothe their infants. Scientists hypothesize that early mothers utilized these same melodic techniques to bond with and calm their babies in a dangerous world.

The Archaeological Record: Bones and Flutes

Theories are compelling, but physical proof is harder to find. While controversial, excavations inside the Divje Babe cave in Slovenia uncovered the femur of a juvenile cave bear dating back approximately 60,000 years, the time of the Neanderthals. The bone features equally spaced holes arranged in a linear fashion. Some scientists argue this is an early flute, demonstrating Neanderthal musicality. Others, however, remain skeptical, arguing the holes were merely punctures made by the teeth of scavenging hyenas. The debate continues.

Less controversial is the evidence found in the Swabian Jura region of Germany. Here, scientists discovered flutes carved from the hollow bones of griffon vultures. These artifacts are undeniably musical instruments and are securely dated to 40,000 years ago, proving that by the Upper Paleolithic, music was a sophisticated technology.

In this video, musician Ljuben Dimkaroski plays a reconstructed model of the 60,000-year-old Divje Babe “flute,” demonstrating that the artifact is capable of producing complex melodies.

Lithophones and the Acoustics of Caves

The archaeological record also points to instruments that were not portable. Archaeologists have identified “lithophones”—essentially, rock gongs. These are natural stalactites or rock formations that ring with a musical tone when struck. Many of these formations bear distinct percussion marks, indicating they were hit repeatedly like instruments.

This connects to the acoustic properties of the caves themselves. Caves naturally amplify sound, and early humans likely used these resonant spaces to create “echoing music,” blending the percussion of stalactites with the natural reverb of their voice.

The Divergence of Music and Language

Finally, we must reconsider our understanding of early communication. It is reasonable to think that language in the deep past was vastly different from what we speak today. There is a hypothesis that early communication was a “musilanguage”—a mix of humming and speech where the sounds represented holistic messages rather than individual words.

This system likely persisted until the human brain expanded in capacity and social complexity increased, necessitating a more precise form of communication. It is possible that the brain eventually underwent a structural change, evolving a specialized area for complex language while retaining a more primitive, emotional area for music. Thus, when we sing today, we are tapping into one of the oldest parts of the human experience. It is thought that poetry and music are closely tied to each other in the developmental stage of human evolution.

The video below features a performance of the “Hurrian Hymn No. 6,” which is the oldest known piece of music with written notation, inscribed on clay tablets in ancient Mesopotamia around 1400 BCE. While this page is mostly about prehistoric music, this song represents a later, pivotal moment in human history, the first time have evidence of a written complex melody.