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Davin L, Tejero JM, Simmons T, Shaham D, Borvon A, Tourny O, Bridault A, Rabinovich R, Sindel M, Khalaily H, Valla F. Bone aerophones from Eynan-Mallaha (Israel) indicate imitation of raptor calls by the last hunter-gatherers in the Levant. Sci Rep 2023; 13:8709. [PMID: 37296190 PMCID: PMC10256695 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-35700-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2023] [Accepted: 05/22/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Direct evidence for Palaeolithic sound-making instruments is relatively rare, with only a few examples recorded from Upper Palaeolithic contexts, particularly in European cultures. However, theoretical considerations suggest that such artefacts have existed elsewhere in the world. Nevertheless, evidence for sound production is tenuous in the prehistoric archaeological record of the Levant, the study of music and its evolution being sparsely explored. Here we report new evidence for Palaeolithic sound-making instruments from the Levant with the discovery of seven aerophones made of perforated bird bones in the Final Natufian site of Eynan-Mallaha, Northern Israel. Through technological, use-wear, taphonomic, experimental and acoustical analyses, we demonstrate that these objects were intentionally manufactured more than 12,000 years ago to produce a range of sounds similar to raptor calls and whose purposes could be at the crossroads of communication, attracting hunting prey and music-making. Although similar aerophones are documented in later archaeological cultures, such artificial bird sounds were yet to be reported from Palaeolithic context. Therefore, the discovery from Eynan-Mallaha contributes new evidence for a distinctive sound-making instrument in the Palaeolithic. Through a combined multidisciplinary approach, our study provides important new data regarding the antiquity and development of the variety of sound-making instruments in the Palaeolithic at large and particularly at the dawn of the Neolithic in the Levant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurent Davin
- Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
- CNRS, UAR 3132 Centre de Recherche français à Jérusalem (CRFJ), Jerusalem, Israel.
- CNRS, UMR 8068 Technologie et Ethnologie des Mondes PréhistoriqueS (TEMPS), Nanterre, France.
| | - José-Miguel Tejero
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
- Human Evolution and Archeological Sciences (HEAS), University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
- Seminari d'Estudis I Recerques Prehistoriques (SERP), University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Tal Simmons
- Department of Forensic Science, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
| | - Dana Shaham
- Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Aurélia Borvon
- CNRS, UAR 3132 Centre de Recherche français à Jérusalem (CRFJ), Jerusalem, Israel
- CNRS, UMR 7041 Archéologies Environnementales, Nanterre, France
- Laboratoire d'Anatomie Comparée, École Nationale Vétérinaire, Agroalimentaire et de l'Alimentation (ONIRIS), Nantes, France
| | - Olivier Tourny
- CNRS, UAR 3132 Centre de Recherche français à Jérusalem (CRFJ), Jerusalem, Israel
- CNRS, UMR 7307 Institut d'ethnologie mediterraneenne, europeenne et Comparative (IDEMEC), Aix-en-Provence, France
| | - Anne Bridault
- CNRS, UAR 3132 Centre de Recherche français à Jérusalem (CRFJ), Jerusalem, Israel
- CNRS, UMR 7041 Archéologies Environnementales, Nanterre, France
| | - Rivka Rabinovich
- Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
- Institute of Earth Sciences, National Natural History Collections, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Marion Sindel
- CNRS, UAR 3132 Centre de Recherche français à Jérusalem (CRFJ), Jerusalem, Israel
- Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Hamudi Khalaily
- CNRS, UAR 3132 Centre de Recherche français à Jérusalem (CRFJ), Jerusalem, Israel
- Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), Jerusalem, Israel
| | - François Valla
- CNRS, UAR 3132 Centre de Recherche français à Jérusalem (CRFJ), Jerusalem, Israel
- CNRS, UMR 8068 Technologie et Ethnologie des Mondes PréhistoriqueS (TEMPS), Nanterre, France
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Beccacece L, Abondio P, Cilli E, Restani D, Luiselli D. Human Genomics and the Biocultural Origin of Music. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:5397. [PMID: 34065521 PMCID: PMC8160972 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22105397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2021] [Revised: 05/03/2021] [Accepted: 05/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Music is an exclusive feature of humankind. It can be considered as a form of universal communication, only partly comparable to the vocalizations of songbirds. Many trends of research in this field try to address music origins, as well as the genetic bases of musicality. On one hand, several hypotheses have been made on the evolution of music and its role, but there is still debate, and comparative studies suggest a gradual evolution of some abilities underlying musicality in primates. On the other hand, genome-wide studies highlight several genes associated with musical aptitude, confirming a genetic basis for different musical skills which humans show. Moreover, some genes associated with musicality are involved also in singing and song learning in songbirds, suggesting a likely evolutionary convergence between humans and songbirds. This comprehensive review aims at presenting the concept of music as a sociocultural manifestation within the current debate about its biocultural origin and evolutionary function, in the context of the most recent discoveries related to the cross-species genetics of musical production and perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Livia Beccacece
- Laboratory of Molecular Anthropology, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy;
| | - Paolo Abondio
- Laboratory of Molecular Anthropology, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy;
| | - Elisabetta Cilli
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna—Ravenna Campus, 48121 Ravenna, Italy; (E.C.); (D.R.)
| | - Donatella Restani
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna—Ravenna Campus, 48121 Ravenna, Italy; (E.C.); (D.R.)
| | - Donata Luiselli
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna—Ravenna Campus, 48121 Ravenna, Italy; (E.C.); (D.R.)
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