uhh.......someone help me out here.......did he answer my question?
or at least, did he address my concern?
> >Furthermore, as a musician I don't find that this object
> >even *vaguely* resembles a musical instrument. I have yet
> >to figure out how one might produce a musical note on anything
> >with such a shape, unless using it as a crude drumstick! :o)
> >It *appears* solid, which would make the holes perforations.
> >However, if it IS hollow, as you indicate, how would one
> >cover enough holes to force air out of the end? Presuming
> >only two thumbs, how would one cover the other holes on the
> >bottom? Considering the size of the holes, I can't see
> >anything other than a breathy sound emitting, kind of like
> >the sound one makes when blowing out birthday candles.
> >IMHO, it looks more like a weapon of some sort, maybe 'bone
> >knuckles?'
> >:o)
> >
>
> Is this a musical instrument? Most of the anthropologists I have talked to
> about it, who have seen it, say it is. These guys have also seen other
> paleolithic flutes made of bone. The reason it doesn't look like you expect
> is that it is broken. Lots of objects are found in poor states of repair in
> the human fossil record. The upper and lower part are missing. This is like
> finding the middle part of a saxophone in the fossil record. Take the mid
> part of a saxophone and try to make a sound out of it.
Could you point me to an artist's conception or reconstruction of what
this particular bone 'flute' would have looked like in its original state?
That might help.
> You might know more about this than I but I understand that the more holes you
> have (within limits) the more notes you can make. This object has 4 holes.
> Some of the objects found in the fossil record have no holes and are therefore
> whistles.
Well, technically speaking, most whistles *I* have ever seen have
at least *two* holes. :o)
-- Glenn Dixon *********************************************Worship Leader | Web Designer and Future Web GuruThe Jesus Center | Web-Wide Wordhttp://flash.net/~tjc | http://flash.net/~webwide*********************************************************