Is it possible to make a rough estimate of when humans started making music?

by EarthMandy

I imagine it's not, but is it just as sensible to say c.50,000 years ago as it is c.20,000 years ago? Is it something that is likely to have emerged very early on in humanity along with language? Or is it more sophisticated than that? I'd guess that something like rhythm would emerge early on, but is the same true for harmony and melody? Is this even a question for historians?!

Bodark43

The earliest commonly accepted bone flute is Auginacian, from the Hohe Fels cave. It's dated at about 35,000 years old, so in the same world as the great cave paintings in the Grotte Chauvet. Musicians have also fashioned replicas- bird bones are handily hollow, so making a flute from one is not really hard. You can search around and hear various things played on them. Of course, no one really knows what that would be in the Aurignacian.

flotiste

The earliest flute, as mentioned, is Palaeolithic. So this would definitely be a question for anthropology, not history.