8,000-year-old flute made of migratory bird bone, one of the world’s oldest known musical instruments. With four main holes and one at the end, its a testament to early humans’ sophisticated skill in making musical instruments. Discovered in Shahrud, its housed at National Museum of Iran. [1366×768]

The bone was carved using stone tools and has visible signs of cutting on its surface, providing rare information about the process of its making. Bone flutes had a variety of uses in society at the time, including rituals, social ceremonies, guiding livestock or sending messages over long distances. The instrument represent the early emergence of music as a cultural and social tool, reminding us of the importance of sound and rhythm in early human life.

Efforts are currently underway at the National Museum of Iran to reconstruct the flute with similar materials, and the Museum hopes, with the help of professional musicians, to recreate the sound that Neolithic humans have produced with the instrument; a task that may allow us to hear the echo of Neolithic music again after thousands of years.