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Daniel Hansen
Amanda Campbell
Archeology 1A
October 24th, 2016
The Evolution of Music Among the Species of Humankind
It's clear from Conard N.J., Malina M. and Munzel SCs findings in New flutes
document the earliest musical tradition in southwestern Germany that there have been clear
changes in the complexity and use of instruments in the production of music by the various
species of humankind. We also see indications that the capability and inclination towards
producing music was developed much earlier than the creation of these flutes, found in
southwestern Germany, in both Hagen E.H. and Hammerstein Ps Did Neanderthals and other
Early Humans Sing?, and Iain Morleys Evolution of the Physiological and Neurological
Capacities for Music. Building on this evidence pointing towards a more comprehensive view
of a human musical tradition is Tuniz, C., Bernardini, F., Turk, I., Dimkaroski, L., Mancini, L.
and Dreossi, D.s DID NEANDERTHALS PLAY MUSIC? X-RAY COMPUTED MICROTOMOGRAPHY OF THE DIVJE BABE FLUTE.
What these publications indicate when taken together is that humanitys musical tradition
was far more gradual than the concept that music began with the discovery of flutes created by
anatomically modern humans (Conard, Malina, and Munzel, 2009). This clear evidence of
musical advancement was precipitated by similar flute-like objects found in Slovenia that were
possibly created by Neanderthals (Tuniz et al, 2011). While this evidence that Neanderthals
created musical instruments is not conclusive, it cannot be completely discarded.

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Looking at both of these sources it certainly seems reasonable that Neanderthals created
flute-like instruments, and the concept diffused into the anatomically modern human population
during the time period the two groups overlapped. While we cannot be sure these were the events
that occurred, the difference in complexity between the two examples may indicate the
anatomically modern human adoption of the flute concept and their improvements on the more
simplistic Neanderthal model (Conard, Malina, and Munzel, 2009) (Tuniz et al, 2011). This leads
the clear conclusion that music as a concept began before the advent of anatomically modern
humans.
Compounding with this idea that music began before the rise of anatomically modern
humans is the evidence put forth that humanity developed the brain capabilities for music much
earlier than the creation of any musical instruments. As Morley puts it,
Considerable concurrence in a wide variety of physiological and neurological
evidence leads to the conclusion that we can, with some confidence, attribute modern
vocal and perceptual versatility and complexity to Homo heidelbergensis, 400,000
300,000 years ago. This would have allowed it to produce complex planned vocal
sequences with wide variation in pitch, and a high emotive content. It is likely that
from Homo ergaster onwards, the ability to plan increasingly complex rhythmic and
vocal sequences developed along with the development of the larynx. By Homo
heidelbergensis, the larynx was essentially modern, with a full range of sounds, the
production of which would have been controlled by areas of the brain responsible for
voice recognition, emotional sounds, and pitch and melody functions. (Morley, 2002)
Looking at Morleys work it seems evident that singing as a musical concept was possible
before the creation of instruments by any variant of humankind. Given that this ability evolved in

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humanity, and the lethal detriments involved with altering the larynx, it would follow that
humankind began developing singing as a form of music during the same period (Morley, 2002).
Before these evolutionary changes that indicate the likely beginning of singing among humanity
it seems clear that human beings still used noise and vocal emissions before the advent of music.
This development of the larynx that led to humankinds ability to sing likely spring boarded from
the territorial advertisements of earlier humans that stemmed from humanitys roots as territorial
primates and social predators (Hagen, Hammerstein, 2009).
Taken collectively, the narrative of the emergence of musicality in humankind is clear.
What began as territorial warnings, and similar advertisements slowly morphed with the passage
of time. This culminated in the adaptations in the human larynx and brain that allowed for
rhythm, pitch, and melody in human vocal emissions, and that indicates the beginning of singing
in humankind (Morley, 2002). After this we see possible instrument construction among
Neanderthals that indicates possible musical progression from simple singing to more complex
accompaniment (Tuniz et al, 2011). This musical advancement culminates in verifiable
instruments created by anatomically modern humans to add to their musical repertoire (Conard,
Malina, and Munzel, 2009). When looking at this distinct progression it's clear that musicality
predated the evolution of anatomically modern humans, and the appearance of anatomically
modern humans was just another step in humankinds refinement of music.

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Bibliography
1) Conard, Nicholas J., Maria Malina, and Susanne C. Munzel. "New flutes document the earliest
musical tradition in southwestern Germany." Nature460.7256 (2009): 737-740.
2) Hagen, Edward H., and Peter Hammerstein. "Did Neanderthals and other early humans sing?
Seeking the biological roots of music in the territorial advertisements of primates, lions, hyenas,
and wolves." Musicae Scientiae 13.2 suppl (2009): 291-320.
3) Morley, Iain. Evolution of the Physiological and Neurological Capacities for Music.
[Cambridge Archaeological Journal], vol. 12, no. 2, 01 Oct. 2002, pp. 195216,
https://www.cambridge.org/core/article/evolution-of-the-physiological-and-neurologicalcapaities-for-music/C360F0B46F240985D7C9E0EDD46ADA72
4) TUNIZ, C., BERNARDINI, F., TURK, I., DIMKAROSKI, L., MANCINI, L. and DREOSSI, D.

(2012), DID NEANDERTHALS PLAY MUSIC? X-RAY COMPUTED MICROTOMOGRAPHY OF THE DIVJE BABE FLUTE*. Archaeometry, 54: 581590.

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