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Re: Neandertal flute
M.Levi (m.levi@ix.netcom.com(M.Levi))
3 Nov 1996 23:38:02 GMT
In <55hehf$faj@crl2.crl.com> lee@crl.com (Lee Thompson-Herbert) writes:
>
>In article <55ef3t$fg7@dfw-ixnews2.ix.netcom.com>,
>Gary Cruse <gcruse@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>>In <3279CB8E.5CD@scn.org> Phillip Bigelow <bh162@scn.org> writes:
>>>I heard it on NPR a couple days ago. Whatever it's
>>>purpose was, it was well-crafted, with much detail.
>>>"Slow-witted" hominids, huh? Yeah, right... :-)
>>> <pb>
>>
>>
>> Well, no. I downloaded at clari.news.photo
>> gif of it. There is no detail. It is a piece
>> of hollow bone maybe six inches long with
>> two round holes in it.
>
>Well-crafted would be a comment on how the instrument _plays_,
>not any decoration on it. Flutes with 2 and 3 holes are still
>played today for indian and british isles music. They're just
>not as common as the 6 hole (timber) and keyed flutes.
>
>When speaking of an instrument, _playability_ is the measure of
>the craftsman. I've seen far too many "pretty" instruments that
>are unplayable.
>From what I could make of the somewhat fuzzy picture printed in the
daily newspaper, the artifact is only a piece of a flute, broken on
both ends. You can see part of a round indentation on either side of
the break, so the flute seems to have had at least four holes, possibly
more.
Kate
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