Researchers at the University of Tübingen report in Nature that excavations in the summer of 2008 at the sites of Hohle Fels (Venus) and Vogelherd produced new evidence for Paleolithic music in the form of the remains of one nearly complete bone flute and isolated small fragments of three ivory flutes.

The most significant of these finds, a nearly complete bone flute, was recovered in the basal Aurignacian deposits at Hohle Fels Cave in the Ach Valley, 20 km west of Ulm. The flute was found in 12 pieces. The fragments were distributed over a vertical distance of 3cm over a horizontal area of about 10 x 20 cm. This flute is by far the most complete of all of the musical instruments thus far recovered from the caves of Swabia.

The preserved portion of the bone flute from Hohle Fels has a length of 21.8 cm and a diameter of about 8 mm. The flute preserves five finger holes. The surfaces of the flute and the structure of the bone are in excellent condition and reveal many details about the manufacture of the flute.

The maker carved two deep, V-shaped notches into one end of the instrument, presumably to form the proximal end of the flute into which the musician blew. The find density in this stratum is moderately high with much flint knapping debris, worked bone and ivory, bones of horse, reindeer, mammoth, cave bear, ibex, as well as burnt bone. No diagnostic human bones have been found in deposits of the Swabian Aurignacian, but it is assume that modern humans produced the artifacts from the basal Aurignacian deposits shortly after their arrival in the region following a migration up the Danube Corridor.

The maker of the flute carved the instrument from the radius of a griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus), a species witih a wingspan between 230 and 265cm provides bones ideal for large flutes. Griffon vultures and other vultures are documented in the Upper Paleolithic sediments of the Swabian caves.

The 2008 excavations at Hohle Fels also recovered two small fragments of what are almost certainly two ivory flutes from the basal Aurignacian. The different dimensions of the fragments indicate that the two finds are not from the same instrument. Excavators at Vogelherd in the Lone Valley 25 km northwest of Ulm recovered another isolated fragment of another ivory flute.

The technology for making an ivory flute is more complex than making a flute from a bird bone. The process requires forming the rough shape along the long axis of a naturally curved piece of ivory, splitting it open along one of the bedding plains in the ivory, carefully hollowing out the halves, carving the holes, and then rejoining the halves of the flute with an air-tight seal.

Given the tendency of delicate ivory artifacts to break into many pieces, it is not unusual to find isolated pieces of such artifacts.

The 10 radiocarbon dates from basal Aurignacian fall between 31 and 40 ka BP. Available calibrations and independent controls using other methods indicate that the flutes from Hohle Fels predate 35,000 calendar years ago.  Apart from the caves of the Swabian Jura there is no convincing evidence for musical instruments predating 30 ka BP.

These finds demonstrate that music played an important role in Aurignacian life in the Ach and Lone valleys of southwestern Germany. Most of these flutes are from archaeological contexts containing an abundance of organic and lithic artifacts, hunted fauna, and burnt bone.

This evidence suggests that the inhabitants of the sites played musical instruments in diverse social and cultural contexts and that flutes were discarded with many other forms of occupational debris. In the case of Hohle Fels, the location of the bone flute in a thin archaeological horizon only 70 cm away from a female figurine of similar age suggests that a possible contextual link exists between these two finds.

The flutes from Hohle Fels, Vogelherd and previous finds from nearby Geißenklösterle Cave demonstrate that a musical tradition existed in the cultural repertoire of the Aurignacian around the time modern humans settled in the Upper Danube region.

The development of a musical tradition in the Aurignacian accompanied the development of the early figurative art and numerous innovations, including a wide array of new forms of personal ornaments, as well as new lithic and organic technologies. The presence of music in the lives of Upper Paleolithic peoples did not directly produce a more effective subsistence economy and greater reproductive success, but music seems to have contributed to improved social cohesion and new forms of communication, which indirectly contributed to demographic expansion of modern humans relative to the culturally more conservative Neanderthal populations.

The flutes from the caves of the Swabian Jura are a key part a major Stuttgart exhibit Ice Age Art and Culture, which will run from September 18, 2009 – January 10, 2010.

Fine art detail and the synchrotron
Scientific advances and new technology are opening new doors to art. An agreement with the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC), the Analysis of Cultural Heritage Materials (AMPC) research group, which concentrates on the study of materials that are of historical, archeological, artistic and cultural interest, is currently examining 15th-century paintings from the end of the Gothic period to the beginning of the Renaissance.

The interdisciplinary team that forms part of this research group is made up of Salvador Butí and Nati Salvadó, from the Department of Chemical Engineering, and Trinitat Pradell, from the Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering.

The objective of this experiment, which will be continued using the ALBA synchrotron, located in Cerdanyola del Vallès, is to obtain scientific proof of the relationship between the various painters and schools during the transition from the Gothic movement to the Renaissance in the 15th century.

This is a critical period of history for Catalonia and it is hoped that the findings will reveal the influences of and connections with art from other regions in Europe.

The research focuses on a selection of works of art from the MNAC. The pigments, agglutinating agents and primers used are being examined, as are the reaction and aging process of compounds.

A specific methodology has been devised for the research that goes from the preparation of the samples, through to selection of the most suitable chemical products & structural analysis techniques with a resolution of 10 microns so compounds can be accurately identified in a sub-millimetric range.

The researchers are also considering compiling a database with all of the information obtained for use in future research work. In order to carry out this task, the researchers use chemical analysis techniques and large pieces of scientific equipment. They also have advanced technologies available to them, as well as other techniques such as X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy.

A major part of the research is performed by taking advantage of the various techniques associated with synchrotron light.  In the words of the researcher Trinitat Pradell, “a synchrotron is a particle accelerator that produces very powerful light that is able to penetrate matter, which makes it an essential tool for analyzing molecules. It is a highly powerful, penetrating beam of light that is able to examine matter that cannot be seen under a microscope. It is very useful for studying coats of paint in depth, as greater quality and intensity is achieved than ever before. The techniques and aesthetic features of works of art can be examined on a molecular level, which was unimaginable using conventional techniques”.

Given the high operational costs of a synchrotron, the only way to use one is to earn grants through calls by the EU or by the Spanish government for its research lines at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF).

Many developed countries (USA, Japan, Germany, France, UK, Switzerland, Italy and France) have this facility. As of 2010, Spain will also have one, the ALBA synchrotron, which is being built in Cerdanyola del Vallès.

There are only three synchrotron facilities on a par with the Grenoble ESRF, shared by EU countries. The other two are in the USA and Japan.