The Divje Babe flute, also known as tidldibab, is a cave bear bone with holes drilled in it. It was found in 1995 during organized archaeological work led by the Institute of Archaeology of the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts near Cerkno in northwestern Slovenia. Scientists believe Neanderthals may have made it as a musical instrument, and it is sometimes called the Neanderthal flute. The artifact is displayed in the National Museum of Slovenia in Ljubljana and is considered the world's oldest known musical instrument.

This claim has caused strong disagreement among scientists. No other Neanderthal musical instruments have been found, and such a discovery from the Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian) period might suggest Neanderthals had symbolic behaviors not previously known.

Site

The site is a horizontal cave that is 45 meters (148 feet) long and up to 15 meters (49 feet) wide. It is located 230 meters (750 feet) above the Idrijca River near Cerkno and is open for visitors to explore. Scientists who studied the site found more than 600 archaeological items in at least ten layers, including twenty hearths and the bones of cave bears. The museum reports that the flute discovered there is linked to the end of the middle Pleistocene and to Neanderthals, about 55,000 years ago.

The excavation of the cave was led by Mitja Brodar from 1978 to 1986. Later, from 1989 to 1995, Ivan Turk and Janez Dirjec directed the work.

Neanderthal flute

The bone was found during a 1995 expedition led by Ivan Turk. When he discovered it, he suggested it could be either a musical artifact or a gnawed bone with teeth marks, but he preferred the idea that it was a musical object.

Turk and his colleagues described the bone as a Neanderthal musical instrument from Divje Babe I, which would be the oldest known musical instrument. He believes it is the strongest evidence of Neanderthal musical behavior. This instrument is at least 10,000 years older than the earliest Aurignacian wind instruments found in German caves like Hohle Fels, Geißenklösterle, and Vogelherd. The instrument is displayed at the National Museum of Slovenia in Ljubljana.

There is debate about whether the artifact is a flute made by Neanderthals. Many people believe the holes in the bone were not made by humans. Archeologist Mitja Brodar, who studied the site before Turk, doubted the bone was made by Neanderthals. Others think the holes could have been made by animals chewing on the bone, and they believe a carnivore, like a bear, may have created them.

The National Museum of Slovenia says evidence Turk presented in 2005 showed that the bone was not pierced by a bear bite. They claim the bone was made by Neanderthals and that it proves they had musical abilities. An experiment by Ljuben Dimkaroski showed that the bone’s original shape could be used as a musical instrument.

Scientists agree that the bone is about 11.4 cm long and is the left femur of a young cave bear cub. On the back side, there are two complete holes and two semicircular notches. On the front side, there is a semicircular notch in the broken end. Turk said the holes and notches are lined up in a row, except for one larger notch.

Near the holes, the outer layer of the bone is worn away, and there are small scratches on the worn surface. Inside the bone, the holes have a funnel-shaped break, which is typical of piercing the bone with tools. Notch 4 does not have this type of break.

On the back side of the bone, there is a V-shaped crack near the top, and on the front side, a similar crack is near the bottom. Turk believed these cracks could be where a mouthpiece or thumb hole would be on a flute.

The flute was found in a layer of sediment called the Mousterian level, which also had stone tools and hearths. This layer was below another layer called the Aurignacian level, which had tools made by modern humans. Charcoal from the hearth was used to estimate the flute’s age as about 43,100 years old. Later tests using a method called ESR dating showed the flute is between 50,000 and 60,000 years old.

Some scientists argue the holes may have been made by an animal’s teeth and that the flute shape is a coincidence. Other flutes from the Upper Paleolithic period, made from mammal bones, have clear signs of human tools used to create the holes. The Neanderthal flute has no signs of human tools, like cut marks, and both ends show damage typical of animal chewing.

Francesco D'Errico (1998) compared the artifact to cave bear bones from sites without humans and found similar holes. He said the holes could not prove human involvement. Nowell and Chase (1998) said the bone was heavily chewed by a carnivore and that the holes were likely made by an animal’s teeth. Gerd Albrecht and others (1998) said there was no proof the bone was a flute. Ian Morley (2006) said the bone was likely chewed by animals, not made by humans. Cajus Diedrich (2015) suggested the holes could have been made by hyenas.

Turk has written many papers arguing the bone was not chewed by animals. In 2001, his team made dental molds of bear, wolf, and hyena teeth and used them to pierce bear bones. They found:
– Only a bear’s canine teeth could match the holes, but it would be hard for a bear to align the bone correctly.
– Holes made by bear teeth have smooth edges, but the Neanderthal flute’s holes are rough and jagged.
– It would be impossible for an animal to make multiple holes in the thick center of the bone.