Ancient Bird Bones May Have Been Fashioned Into Flutes for Catching More Birds

Key Highlights :

1. The bones were found in Israel and it is possible that they were used as instruments to lure more birds to their death.

2. The bones were recently reexamined and it was found that marks on the bones were actually minuscule holes bored into their sides.

3. The team hypothesizes that the bones were used as flutes to imitate the calls of birds of prey.

4. The team tested their hypothesis by creating replica flutes using mallard bones and found that several high-pitched frequencies could be hit that could mimic the calls of two birds of prey that were known to inhabit the Neolithic Levant: the Common kestrel ( Falco tinnunculus ) and the sparrowhawk ( Accipiter nisus ).

5. The team acknowledged that there’s no guarantee that the perforated bones were necessarily blown, much less tools for hunting.

6. The bones may have been used for other purposes as well, such as making sound.

7. The team is hopeful that future research will be able to confirm whether or not the bones were actually used for hunting.

     Archaeologists have uncovered a remarkable discovery in the far north of Israel: 12,000-year-old bird bones that may have been used as instruments by prehistoric humans to lure more birds to their death. The perforated bones were found in Israel’s Hula Valley, just west of the Golan Heights, and were first excavated in 1955.

     Seven wing bones from the site belonged to coots and teals, and upon recent inspection, a team of archaeologists found that marks on the bones were actually minuscule holes bored into their sides. The team posits that the bones were used as flutes (aerophones, to use scientific language) to mimic the calls of birds of prey. These calls would frighten the migratory birds into taking wing, making them easier targets for Natufian hunters, the scientists speculate.

     To test their hypothesis, the team engaged in some experimental archaeology, creating replica flutes using mallard bones, which were fashioned to match the size of the bone flutes and the bored holes. Blowing through the replica bones, the team found that several high-pitched frequencies could be hit that could mimic the calls of two birds of prey that were known to inhabit the Neolithic Levant: the Common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) and the sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus).

     The team acknowledged that there’s no guarantee that the perforated bones were necessarily blown, much less tools for hunting. Perhaps they were some of the earliest musical instruments, for which archaeological evidence is often scant.

     The discovery of these 12,000-year-old bird bones provides important new information on hunting methods and supplements the various prehistorical tools that mark the start of the transition from agriculture and the cultivation of plants and animals in the southern Levant. It also shows just how important it is to preserve the cultural finds uncovered during excavations, which continue to yield new insights and research directions into human culture.

     In time, more found artifacts may show what ancient sound-making tools look like in archaeological contexts. Or our methods for probing such artifacts will get better. Ideally, the two will work in concert to give us more than a glimpse of our sonorous past.

Continue Reading at Source : gizmodo