50,000 years ago - Neanderthal Flute

The Neanderthal flute is a musical instrument found at Divje Babe, Slovenia. This discovery happened in 1995 during the excavations performed by Ivan Turk and Janez Dirjec at the Divje Babe Archeological Park.  It was near the remains of a 50,000 – 60,000 years old Neanderthal fire pit. Since then some scholars have been suggesting that Neanderthals made this as a form of musical instrument. They drilled three holes into the thigh bone of a young cave bear. Then they made a sharp rim for the mouthpiece using tools made of bone and stone. The name Neanderthal flute comes from them.

However, Slovenian archeologist Mitja Brodar argues that Cro-Magnons had made it. As one of the most important discoveries of prehistoric music, it remains on prominent public display in the National Museum of Slovenia in Ljubljana.