Listen to the sounds of world’s oldest known musical instrument – found in Slovenia

The world’s oldest instrument – the 60,000 year old Neanderthal Flute – is carved from the bone of a cave bear. And it sounds hauntingly beautiful …
Only a fragment remains intact
The Neanderthal Flute, found by archaeologists in the Slovenian cave of Divje Babe (near Cerkno), is thought to date back at least 60,000 years, making it the oldest known musical instrument in the world.
While only a fragment remains intact, the instrument is still a unique testament about how our ancient ancestors once made music.
The flute’s forever-home is now at the Slovenian National Museum in the country’s capital city of Ljubljana.


It can be played today!
To demonstrate what an 60,000 year old Neanderthal Flute sounds like, Slovenian National Museum made a clay replica of the flute.
As you will hear, the instrument does a remarkably good job of playing music, despite dating back thousands of millennia.
To listen to its sounds, click on the video:
Featured head image: The Neanderthal flute from Divje babe, photo from Archaelogical Park Divje Babe, Slovenia.