Early man and his band

It may have been a bit early for Beethoven or Chopin, and Elvis may or may not have been there, but it's true, early man lacked the tin ear some of us have.

What with a wind section and percussion section, and yes a string section, it may have been more of an orchestra than a band.

True, I am stretching thing a bit, but prehistoric man did not need the input of European invaders to bring his music, it was all his long before.

Among the many rare items recovered at the Zueberbueler shelter were remainders of several early musical instruments. Most notable of these was his flute.

From the few fragments recovered, it would seem it varied little from that used in the old world. The most interesting data was the decoration on some of the parts.

The random pattern of small lines has been applied by branding. The only material man of 3,000 - 6000 B.C. had to work, that would not be consumed by fire was stone. Even so, stone had the tendency to shatter if the temperature of fire was excessive.

Just how the Rasp Sticks were used is open to debate. A similar idea, is to this day used in Mexico. Possibly a length of cane was part of the set or maybe just two rasp sticks.

The drum stick is very similar of what we would have expected to see in use even today. Please note a small Mystery. In one view, it would seem the atrifact is made of just one bid of wood, but the other is clear, it s two. Did early man find wood fillers, in his tool bag?

To this group of very early musical items has been added a small group of mysterious desert stones. The cruciforms of the southwest United States and Mexico.

The small paper with the stones should cover the general knowledge available on these rare artifacts.

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