early music and art

I managed to miss the story of the world's oldest flute when I was travelling in June, but found it in the August issue of Spektrum der Wissenschaft. I'm intrigued to learn that the earliest instrument was found just a few feet away from the world's oldest sculpture, in the Hohle Fels cave in south west Germany. Both date from around 35,000 years ago, i.e. around the time when Neanderthals disappeared from Europe.

So it all fits together, our ancestors had visual arts and music and all that, while Neanderthals got bored to death ...

PS original paper on the earliest flute is in Nature AOP