<<  -- 2 --  Gordon Rumson    FRAGMENTS OF FORGOTTEN SOUNDS

Fragments of forgotten sounds ...

Join me on a tour of some of the fragments of forgotten sounds...

It is said by some that humans evolved in Africa. For a truly detailed study see American Scientist, 'The African Emergence and Early Asian Dispersals of the Genus Homo' by Roy Larick and Russell L Ciochon at:

www.sigmaxi.org/amsci/articles/96articles/Larick-1.html
(Linked by permission of American Scientist, magazine of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society).

From there humans spread across the whole world even to the tip of modern Argentina. We took our tool-kits with us, our upright posture, our DNA, our very large brains, our primate heritage, our grunts and groans...and probably our music. But try as I might I found little on the Web devoted to Ancient African Music. (Some more recent and I'll cover those next month).

Ancient music

What is the most ancient music ever preserved? Hard to say, but here is a site which has a description of an ancient bone flute made by Neanderthals from perhaps 43,000 to 82,000 years ago. The Web page is based on work by the Canadian Bob Finck and has appeared in many newspapers and journals.

www.webster.sk.ca/greenwich/fl-compl.htm
(Linked with permission)

I, for one, get more than a little confused by the sequence of events, so here is a crucial web site to help clear that up:

Chronology of the ancient world with many photos and links:
eawc.evansville.edu/chronology/index2.htm

Exploring Ancient World Cultures (EAWCs) main page:
eawc.evansville.edu/eawcindex.htm
(Linked with permission)

Now, back to our journey...

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