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SOUND · AURIGNACIAN

Hohle Fels flute

An instrument for making music

Four holes survive; a fifth is reconstructed at the broken end.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Image 1 of 2 · Main image
RECONSTRUCTION FROM ORIGINAL · AI · CC BY-SA 4.0

Reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis

Tomatenpflanze / Wikimedia Commons, contrast by Sémhur, CC BY-SA 4.0. Interpretive AI edition. Found in 2008 in twelve fragments; four holes preserved, probable fifth lost at the end. The new lighting accentuates the holes; it must not be used to measure their shape or diameter. The alternative photo by Hannes Wiedmann was inspected but not sent to ImageGen: far end out of focus. It is not an archaeological photograph nor a certified restitution. Microdetails, finish and colour are interpretive approximations.

Tracekeepers / OpenAI ImageGen; source photograph: Tomatenpflanze; contrast by Sémhur · Urgeschichtliches Museum Blaubeuren (URMU) · Inventory: 1977-0119-0089-9000 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Source and provenance ↗Terms of use ↗
Image 1 of 2 · Main image
Interpretive AI edition of the original Hohle Fels vulture bone flute, four preserved perforations and incomplete ends, on black.
RECONSTRUCTION FROM ORIGINAL · AI · CC BY-SA 4.0

Reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis

Tomatenpflanze / Wikimedia Commons, contrast by Sémhur, CC BY-SA 4.0. Interpretive AI edition. Found in 2008 in twelve fragments; four holes preserved, probable fifth lost at the end. The new lighting accentuates the holes; it must not be used to measure their shape or diameter. The alternative photo by Hannes Wiedmann was inspected but not sent to ImageGen: far end out of focus. It is not an archaeological photograph nor a certified restitution. Microdetails, finish and colour are interpretive approximations.

Tracekeepers / OpenAI ImageGen; source photograph: Tomatenpflanze; contrast by Sémhur · Urgeschichtliches Museum Blaubeuren (URMU) · Inventory: 1977-0119-0089-9000 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Source and provenance ↗Terms of use ↗

Explore in 3D

Load the model only when you want to explore it. Drag or use the arrow keys to turn it; + and − zoom. Closing it releases its memory.

User-supplied digital reconstruction; file metadata declares Tripo. It is not an archaeological scan nor a metric replica. The display scale is indicative, not a measurement of the original; the supplied geometry is preserved intact. Associated with the Hohle Fels flute by user delivery. The model’s shape, perforations and surface do not certify the measurements or conserved state of the archaeological piece.

History and context

Around 40,000 years ago, someone chose the hollow radius of a griffon vulture and transformed it into a flute. Its twelve fragments appeared in 2008 just seventy centimetres from the female figurine of Hohle Fels.

The reconstructed piece measures 21.7 centimetres and preserves four holes; the broken end makes a fifth probable. Figurative art and music shared the same horizon, but neither the exact scale nor the repertoire have survived.

Evidence and interpretation

The mouthpiece, the holes and the manufacturing traces allow it to be identified as an instrument. We do not know what melodies it played or in what contexts.

Catalogue facts

Date
≈35,000–40,000 years
Location
Hohle Fels, Germany
Material
Griffon vulture radius
Measurement
21.7 cm · four preserved holes · probable fifth

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

Bone6 dated objects

1 / 6In the centre: Hohle Fels flute

Also connected, without a comparable date (3)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

A closer look

About 4 min to read · 7 sections. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: .

The edge where air becomes sound

The end of the flute preserves an oblique rebate that produces a notch: it is not merely a perforated tube. This detail guides the reconstruction of how it was blown, although the Blaubeuren museum warns that the same mechanism cannot be extended to all flutes in the region. Even the length of the bone offers a useful limit: the complete instrument cannot have been much longer. A sonic reconstruction depends on these small material constraints, not on attributing a modern melody to it.

The flute was not an isolated find

Hohle Fels, Geißenklösterle and Vogelherd have yielded flutes or fragments of instruments made from bird bones and mammoth ivory. The assemblage allows us to speak of a regional musical tradition, not merely of an exceptional object that someone made once. Nor does it prove that their owners played together: they come from places and contexts that must be studied separately. Comparing them serves to recognise repeated solutions and distinct material choices. The flute in this entry stands out for its preservation within a wider history of finds.

Making a tube when the material is solid

An ivory flute from Geißenklösterle shows a different technical problem. The ivory was solid: it did not offer the natural bore of a bird bone. To make that other instrument, two elongated halves were prepared, hollowed out inside and joined. Maintaining a regular interior and a joint that did not leak air required precision. The comparison does not attribute that procedure to the Hohle Fels flute; it helps to understand that makers could arrive at a similar form through different work depending on the material chosen.

Recognising music among the fragments

The remains of the ivory flute from Geißenklösterle were not immediately identified as an instrument. A fragment was first published as decorated ivory; in 2003 Maria Malina recognised the holes and assembled thirty-one pieces. It is a useful comparison for assessing the small fragments of Hohle Fels: a broken part can appear uninformative until it fits with others. Archaeological discovery continues in the laboratory and in the store. Preserving and reviewing materials allows questions to be answered that the excavation did not resolve at first.

Music shared space with other work

The Aurignacian layers of Hohle Fels contain stone tools and implements made of bone, antler and ivory, as well as ornaments and figurines. Among the animal remains appear species that were exploited as food. This combination situates the flute in communities that mastered many different tasks. We do not know the occupation of its maker nor who could play it. The context does allow us to leave behind an overly simple scene, in which surviving and creating were incompatible activities or necessarily belonged to separate groups of people.

Evidence of music, not the date it began

The study that presented the flutes in 2009 stressed that the archaeological record of music is incomplete. Finding an instrument allows us to affirm that objects for producing musical sounds were already being made; it does not allow us to date the first time someone sang, marked a rhythm or accompanied another person. That is why it is advisable to distinguish ‘preserved instrument’ from ‘beginning of music’. Even a very ancient piece constitutes minimal evidence of what existed, not a complete inventory of all forms of making music then.

Size also changes how it is played

Another useful comparison is the swan bone flute from Geißenklösterle. The museum explains that its narrow bore makes it more difficult to sound than one of larger diameter, and that its small length favours a high register. Not all bones therefore provided equivalent instruments. Their shape influenced the maker’s work and the player’s effort. Natural differences between bones and the missing parts also limit sonic reconstruction: a replica can explore possibilities, but does not guarantee recovering exactly the sounds of the original.

Reference images and provenance

Original photograph: Hohle Fels flute, 1977-0119-0089-9000.View full-size photograph ⛶
ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPH · Tomatenpflanze; contrast by Sémhur · CC BY-SA 4.0

Found in 2008 in twelve fragments; four holes preserved, probable fifth lost at the end.

Documentary original · Exact correspondence

Tomatenpflanze; contrast by Sémhur · Urgeschichtliches Museum Blaubeuren (URMU) · Inventory: 1977-0119-0089-9000

Image provenanceCC BY-SA 4.0

Location and territory

Physical world map with routes of human evolutionPresent-day world coastline from Natural Earth in an equirectangular projection. The overlaid markers let you explore each milestone.Map base: Natural Earth 1:110m · public domain · present-day reference coastline

LOCATED SITE

Hohle Fels Cave · GermanyArchaeological site marker.

Where it is held

Museum für Urgeschichte und Eiszeitkunst (URMU)

Item or group in the record · Documented collection

Inventory 1977-0119-0089-9000; advisable to check current display before visiting.

Museum für Urgeschichte und Eiszeitkunst · URMU

Item or group in the record · Documented collection

Exact entry for the original; the general instrument page does not unequivocally identify which are currently on display.

The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.

Sources and references

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