Glen wrote (12 June):
"I have heard of this "flute" supposedly dated at 40,000 years,
but have been unable to find it in the scientific literature."
I have no reference to the scientific literature, but I have
found the report I'd lost. It was from the newspaper "The
Independent on Sunday" of 25 February 1996, page 15. The author
is David Keys, the Archaeology correspondent. Some quotes
follow:
"Deep inside a cave in Slovenia, in the north of former
Yugoslavia, archaeologists have unearthed the world's oldest true
musical instrument - a flute which appears to have been made by
Neanderthals around 45,000 years ago.
Broken at both ends, the 5 in-long instrument - made out of
the leg bone of a young bear - still retains its four finger
holes. It was found by the side of a temporary hearth inside a
cave near the town of Nova Gorica, adjacent to the Italian
frontier, 40 miles west of the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana.
Also by the fireplace was a typical Neanderthal flint tool - a
scraper, probably for cleaning animal skins. Apart from being
the oldest musical instrument in the world, the flute's greatest
significance lies in its association with Neanderthal man.
Prior to this discovery, most archaeologists and
anthropologists would have doubted Neanderthal man's ability to
produce music, let alone make musical instruments. The Slovenian
discovery suggests that they were able to do both...
What it suggests is that Neanderthal man was perhaps
intellectually closer to modern humans than has previously been
accepted. Nor were they necessarily as primitive and
technologically backward as many people have thought.
The flute was discovered about 40 feet inside a cave by
archaeologist Ivan Turk of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences..."
So, it is an exciting find. My more general question to
Christians is, I think, pertinent. How far can we use this (and
related evidence) to assist interpret the incomplete
archaeological data? And can we conclude that Neanderthals were
genuinely human and thus descendants of Adam?
On 29th May, John-Erik Stig Hansen wrote:
"The fact that a human species, Homo neanderthalensis, with
a cultural advancement indistinguishable from contemporary Homo
sapiens went extinct is not easy to accept.
"The implications for a Christian interpretation of the goal
of evolution are difficult to define immediately. Right off one
wonders whether Neanderthals might have thought about matters
like a Creator, imperfections of nature, sin and redemption.
While this may never be cleared up, one implication seems
certain: there is no a priori reason to assume that we, Homo
sapiens, constitute the ultimate step in the realisation of God's
creative miracle. Previous human species have gone before us and
perhaps new species will come after us."
This is an example of how scientific data can be used to
"interpret" the biblical revelation. But why should it be this
way round? There is surely an area of debate here.
Best wishes,
*** From David J. Tyler, CDT Department, Hollings Faculty,
Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.
Telephone: 0161-247-2636 ***