A five-holed flute carved from a vulture wing bone emerged from the Hohle Fels cave near Ulm, Germany. This artifact dates to at least 35,000 years ago and was published in the journal Nature during August 2009. Scientists announced that this find demonstrated a well-established musical tradition when modern humans colonized Europe. Another discovery in the Geißenklösterle cave revealed flutes made from swan bones dated to about 36,000 years ago. These instruments were found alongside the Venus of Hohle Fels figurine. A fragment of a juvenile cave bear femur with two to four holes appeared at Divje Babe in Slovenia around 43,000 years ago. Archaeologists dispute whether this specific fragment is truly a flute or merely a bear bone with natural holes. The oldest confirmed instrument remains the vulture bone from Hohle Fels until further redating occurred. Redating of the Geißenklösterle finds pushed their age back to between 42,000 and 43,000 years. An 18.7 cm flute made from a mammoth tusk surfaced in 2004 within the same southern German region. This specimen featured three holes and spanned an era from 30,000 to 37,000 years ago. In China, a playable bone flute known as Gudi dates back roughly 9,000 years. Excavators found these specimens in a tomb at Jiahu along with twenty-nine similar examples. They crafted these Chinese flutes from the wing bones of red-crowned cranes. Each piece contained five to eight holes drilled into the bone structure.
Ancient Cultural Traditions
Historical records and artworks reveal bamboo flutes existed during the Zhou dynasty which lasted from 1046 to 256 BC. Written sources show the Chinese used the kuan reed instrument and the xīao end-blown flute during the 12th and 11th centuries BC. The chi or ch'ih appeared in the 9th century BC followed by the yüeh in the 8th century BC. Of these ancient types, the bamboo chi stands as the oldest documented transverse flute. Musicologist Curt Sachs described the Sanskrit vāmsī cross flute as the outstanding wind instrument of ancient India. Religious artwork depicting celestial music instruments linked this sound to an aristocratic character. The Indian bamboo cross flute called Bansuri held sacred status for Krishna who appears with it in Hindu art. Cross flutes appeared in reliefs from the 1st century AD at Sanchi and Amaravati between the 2nd and 4th centuries AD. A Sumerian cuneiform tablet dated around 2600 to 2700 BC contains the earliest written reference to a flute. Epic poems like Gilgamesh developed over a period spanning roughly 2100 to 600 BC mention flutes within their text. One scale named embūbum translates from Akkadian to mean flute. Biblical texts cite Jubal as the father of those who play the ugab wind instrument. Archaeological digs in the Holy Land uncovered Bronze Age flutes dating from 4000 to 1200 BC. Iron Age finds from 1200 to 586 BC witnessed the creation of the Israelite kingdom and its separation into two distinct kingdoms.