The Divje Babe flute, also called tidldibab, is a cave bear femur pierced by spaced holes that was unearthed in 1995 during systematic archaeological excavations led by the Institute of Archaeology of the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, at the Divje Babe I near Cerkno in northwestern Slovenia. It has been suggested that it was made by Neanderthals as a form of musical instrument, and became known as the Neanderthal flute. The artifact is on prominent public display in the National Museum of Slovenia in Ljubljana as a Neanderthal flute. As such, it would be the world's oldest known musical instrument. This claim was met with severe criticism and dispute within the scientific community. There are no other known instances of a Neanderthal musical instrument, and such a find from the Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian) might indicate previously unknown symbolic behavior among Neanderthals.

Site

The location of the site is a horizontal cave, 45 m long and up to 15 m wide; it is 230 m above the Idrijca River, near Cerkno, and is accessible to visitors. Researchers working at the site have uncovered more than 600 archaeological items in at least ten levels, including twenty hearths and the skeletal remains of cave bears. According to the museum's statements, the flute has been associated with the "end of the middle Pleistocene" and with Neanderthals, about 55,000 years ago. The cave site's excavation was led by Mitja Brodar from 1978 to 1986, and again from 1989 to 1995 by Ivan Turk and Janez Dirjec.

Neanderthal flute

The bone was discovered in a 1995 expedition led by Ivan Turk. When it was found, he proposed that it was either a musical artifact or a gnawed bone pierced with teeth, favouring the former. As described by Turk and his colleagues, the Neanderthal musical instrument from Divje babe I would be the oldest known musical instrument. He believes it is currently the strongest material evidence of Neanderthal musical behaviour. It is at least 10,000 years older than the earliest Aurignacian wind instruments discovered in the German caves Hohle Fels, Geißenklösterle and Vogelherd. The Neanderthal musical instrument is on display at the National Museum of Slovenia in Ljubljana. Whether the artifact is actually a flute created by Neanderthals was a subject of a long debate, and many believe the holes in the bone are not of artificial origin. Archeologist Mitja Brodar, who worked at the site before Turk, was very skeptical that the bone was of Neanderthal origin. Many others have suggested it could have been produced by animals biting or chewing the bone, and consider a carnivore origin more likely. The National Museum of Slovenia maintains that evidence presented by Turk in 2005 had "finally refuted hypotheses that the bone was perforated because of a bear bite". The manufacture by Neanderthals "is reliably proven" and its significance in the understanding of their capabilities and the development of music and speech is secure. An experimental reconstruction by Ljuben Dimkaroski demonstrated that a plausible original shape of the bone can be used as a practical musical instrument (see reconstruction below). The dating of the bone, the presence of Neanderthals at the site, as well as the presence of carnivorous animals, are generally agreed upon. The primary dispute is whether it is more likely to be a Neanderthal made flute, or simply the product of a carnivore's chewing. Debate focuses on the following three questions:

Description

The artifact is an 11.4 cm long left diaphysis of femur that belonged to a one to two year old cave bear cub. On the posterior side, there are two complete holes in the central diaphysis (2 and 3). At both ends, the bone is broken, but there are two semicircular notches, one on each side of the two complete holes (1 and 4). On the anterior side, there is a semicircular notch (5) in the broken end. According to Turk, all the holes and notches are arranged in a line and have a similar morphology, except for the larger notch 4. Proximally and distally to hole 3, a portion of the cortical bone is abraded. On this spot, a longitudinal fibrous bone structure is exposed. Near the proximal edge of hole 3, there are two parallel micro-scores on the abraded surface of the cortical bone. Inside the medullary cavity from which the spongy bone was removed, the cortical bone is broken off at the edge of notch/hole 1, 2, 3, and 5. A funnel-shaped fracture of the inner edge of these holes is a typical damage occurring during piercing the cortical bone. Notch 4 does not have a funnel-shaped fracture inside the medullary cavity. On the posterior side of the bone, a V-shaped fracture is present on the proximal end, reaching the nearest notch 1. On either side of this fracture is a partial straight sharp edge, presumed to be a mouthpiece by Turk. A similar fracture is present on the anterior side of the distal end, reaching notch 5, which was presumed to be a thumb hole for the flute.

Context and dating of the flute

The Neanderthal flute was found in the Mousterian level, which contained lithic artefacts and hearths. The flute was cemented into the phosphate breccia in close proximity to the hearth. The Mousterian level containing the flute was below an Aurignacian level containing stone artefacts and osseous points of anatomically modern humans, separated by about 2m of sediment. Remains of and evidence for many types of large mammals are present at the site as well, including many carnivores which could have interacted with the bone artifact. Based on the radiocarbon dating of the charcoal found in the hearth, the age of the flute was initially estimated at 43,100 ± 700 years BP. Later dating using electron spin resonance (ESR) has shown that the layer containing the flute was outside the accurate range of the radiocarbon method, and that the original dating of samples from this layer was incorrect. According to ESR dating, the age of the flute is now estimated at 50,000 to 60,000 years BP.

Argument for carnivore origin

Arguments have been made that the holes were most likely created by the teeth of an animal, chewing or gnawing on the bone, and that the resemblance to a flute is only coincidental. Other known Upper Palaeolithic flutes made from the limb bones of mammals show clear traces of artificial creation of holes which were carved or drilled with stone tools. In flutes made from thin, delicate bird bones, the holes were made by grinding the bone cortex. The edge of the holes on the Neanderthal flute differs from those on Upper Palaeolithic flutes and shows no conventional signs of human manufacture (i.e., cut marks). In addition, both ends of the Neanderthal flute show damage typical of gnawing by carnivores. Turk has published many articles rebutting the carnivore origin over the decades since the bone was found. In 2001, Turk's group made metal dental casts of cave bear, wolf and hyena dentition. The casts were used to pierce juvenile and adult fresh brown bear femurs. Several arguments were made: Though he argues for Neanderthal origin of the artifact, Turk presumed that the V-fracture at the proximal end is a typical carnivore damage that occurred after the flute was no longer in use.

Argument for Neanderthal origin of the holes

Arguments have been made by Turk and colleagues that it is possible for this artifact to be produced with known Neanderthal tools. Pointed stone tools appropriate for piercing bone were found in several Mousterian levels at Divje babe I. In addition, several ad hoc bone punches were found in Mousterian levels. Iain Morley (2006) was critical of Kunej and Turk's assessment, noting that despite the large number of bones discovered at the site, "only two [showed] other possible cases of human action ... and the subject femur is the only one of 600 cave bear femurs to carry any such possible traces of human action." He concluded that "the direct evidence for human agency is, at best, highly ambiguous, and there is a lack of evidence of other possible human workmanship on the bone."

Argument for a musical instrument

An additional argument for Neanderthal construction is that the artifact itself must be a flute, having the correct shape and proportions to be a musical instrument. Much of this argument hinges on whether the notches at the ends are evidence of 4 or 5 holes in the prior intact flute.

Diatonic scale

Bob Fink (1997) claimed that the bone's holes were "consistent with four notes of the diatonic scale" (do, re, mi, fa) based on the spacing of those four holes. He argued that this spacing of the holes on a modern diatonic flute are unique, and not arbitrarily spaced, and that with the correct total length of bone it would perfectly match this scale. After Kunej and Turk (2000) argued that due to the age of the bear cub, it could not be as long as proposed, Fink updated the argument on his personal website with a proposition that the bone may have been extended with another section of bone. Nowell and Chase had been first to raise the counter-argument that the juvenile bear bone was too short to play those four holes in tune to any diatonic series of tones and half-tones, as proposed by Fink. Blake Edgar (1998) wrote in California Wild: "[Nowell] along with archeologist Philip Chase, had serious doubts as soon as they saw photos of the bone on the Internet. ... The Divje Babe bone bears some resemblance to the dozens of younger, uncontested bone flutes from European Upper Paleolithic sites. But, says Nowell, these obvious flutes are longer, have more holes, and exhibit telltale tool marks left from their manufacture. No such marks occur on the bear bone. Fink proposed that the spacing of the flute's holes matches music's standard diatonic scale. ... Nowell and Chase teamed with a more musically inclined colleague to show that the bear bone would need to be twice its natural total length to conform to a diatonic scale." Ljuben Dimkaroski (2011) created a reconstruction of the instrument based on his own research, which was able to play a diatonic scale, but in a very different way than proposed by Fink. See reconstruction below.

Reconstruction

Ljuben Dimkaroski created a replica instrument based on the proposed intact form of the flute. This replica has demonstrated that it could indeed be used as a flute, and produce well known musical scales. Though this artifact had been previously studied by several musical researchers, Ljuben Dimkaroski, a professional musician, undertook his own independent study in 2011. In collaboration with Matija Turk, Dimkarowski created over 100 experimental wooden and bone replicas of the flute. Dimkaroski's replica oriented the instrument using the proximal end of the femur as a mouthpiece. On the anterior proximal part a straight sharpened edge is preserved, which Dimkaroski considered to be a remnant of the blowing edge of its mouthpiece. With this orientation of the instrument, the role of hole 5 on the anterior side, becomes a palm hole rather than a thumb hole as previously thought. In the reverse orientation, Dimkaroski found the location of this hole was too close to the mouthpiece and thus dysfunctional. The reconstructed instrument has three finger holes (holes 1–3) on the posterior side and a palm hole (hole 5) on the anterior side of the femur. Notch 4 is left as a notch, rather than reconstructing it as a hole. This forms an opening on the distal part with the function of a bell or closure. With a finger of the right hand, the notch on the posterior distal side may be formed into an additional hole. The opening provides the possibility of playing on an open or closed bell, which additionally enriches the tonal range. The reconstructed flute has a capability of 3½ octaves. Practiced performers have demonstrated its utility as a musical instrument. According to Dimkaroski, the name "flute" is not appropriate for such an instrument, which could be considered a precursor of modern wind instruments. Since the instrument and the way it is played are not comparable to modern wind instruments, he named it TIDLDIBAB. The name is a composite word made up of the initials of the archaeologist who is credited with the discovery of the instrument (Turk Ivan), the musician and maker of its replicas (Dimkaroski Ljuben) and the name of its archaeological find spot (Divje Babe).