Pierced Reindeer Phalanx
Musical instrument or bird call
Magdalenian
21 000 and 14 000 years
The oldest musical instruments are perforated animal bones, phalanges or fragments of diaphysis, which date back to the Middle Palaeolithic.
C. Perlès, A. Leroi-Gourhan Dictionnaire de la préhistoire. P.U.F, Paris, 1988.
Commentary :
A reindeer phalanx can be easily pierced on its thin, concave underside, with a hard stone boring tool.
Perforated with a circular hole, the object emits a modulated or shrill sound when the bevelled edges of the hole are blown appropriately.
During the Magdalenian, a pierced reindeer phalanx could be used as a bird call or whistle to accompany songs and dances.