The article reviews the development and interpretation of procedures used in the study of the sedimentary sequence of the Divje babe I Palaeolithic cave site. The data were obtained from ...publications, archives, and personal information provided by Ivan Turk, who directed the excavations and directed the laboratory investigations. The profile of Divje babe I is currently the best researched and chronologically defined Late Pleistocene cave profile in Slovenia. For the first time, various sedimentological and other data from the standard profile were upgraded with the same data obtained on standardized ground plan surfaces and depths. A large spatial (lateral) variability was discovered, associated with generally contemporaneous but different cave microenvironments, which were crucially influenced by different amounts of water in all aggregate states. Without taking into account temporal and spatial dimensions, it would not be possible to combine all statistical sets of collected data on sediments, their contents, and climatic parameters into a unified system.
Archaeological evidence for wind musical instruments made by modern humans has been well established from the Upper Palaeolithic in Europe. Musical instruments evidently made by Neanderthals have not ...been found so far. The most controversial object is a juvenile cave bear femur with two complete holes, found in 1995 in the Middle Palaeolithic layers of the Cave Divje babe I, Slovenia. The bone was interpreted as a possible Neanderthal ‘flute’, but some scholars have firmly rejected this hypothesis on the basis of taphonomic observations, suggesting a carnivore origin for the holes. Here, we show the results of X‐ray computed micro‐tomography (mCT) performed on the Divje babe I ‘flute’. Our analyses demonstrate that there were originally four holes, possibly made with pointed stones and bone tools. Most surface modifications near the holes, previously interpreted as effects of carnivore gnawing, are post‐depositional marks. Furthermore, a thin layer has been removed around one of the complete holes, producing a flat surface, possibly to facilitate perforation. The new data show that a Neanderthal manufacture of the object cannot be ruled out.
In the Divje babe I cave in western Slovenia, several osseous artefacts were found in the Mousterian levels besides a Neanderthal bone musical instrument; they are interpreted as being projectile ...points, awls, and polishers. They originate from layers that have been dated by the ESR method between 50 and 110 ka. The majority of osseous artefacts show no characteristic traces of manufacture and use, which is explained by the strong effect of corrosion documented in all the excavated layers of the site. These artefacts are presented here in the context of the site at which several elements of ‘modern’ behaviour have been discovered and recognised in Mousterian levels.
In 1995, an unusually perforated femur of a juvenile cave bear was found in the Divje babe I Palaeolithic cave site in Slovenia. The supposition that it could be a flute led to heated debates. ...According to its archaeological context and chronostratigraphic position, if made by humans, it could only be attributed to Neanderthals. The crucial question was related to the origin of the holes. These could only have been made either by a carnivore or by human intervention. Results of experimental testing of both hypotheses do not support a carnivore origin of the holes. Furthermore, the method of artificial creation of the holes, which left no conventional traces of manufacture, was defined. Computed tomography revealed traces, which could be the result of human agency and called into serious question the origin of some features previously declared to be solely of carnivore origin. Recent musical experiments performed on a replica of the reconstructed musical instrument revealed its great musical capability. Together with some other findings from Divje babe I, the Mousterian musical instrument offers a unique insight into the Neanderthals’ symbolic behaviour and their cognitive abilities. The multidisciplinary results of comprehensive analyses of this exceptional find are first presented here together with its chronostratigraphic, palaeo-environmental, and archaeological contexts.
En 1995, un étrange fémur perforé d’un jeune ours des cavernes a été découvert dans la grotte paléolithique de Divje babe I en Slovénie. L’interprétation comme une flûte a conduit à des débats très houleux. Selon son contexte archéologique et sa position chrono-stratigraphique, si cet objet est bien humain, il ne peut qu’être attribué aux Néandertaliens. La question cruciale a été liée aux origines des perforations. De toute évidence, elles ne peuvent être dues qu’à des carnivores ou à des hommes. Les résultats de différentes expériences confrontant les deux hypothèses ne confirment pas l’origine des perforations par des carnivores. Par ailleurs, la méthode à l’origine des perforations a été définie ici : elle n’a pas laissé de traces habituelles quant à leur mode de production. La tomographie informatisée révèle des traces qui peuvent résulter d’agents humains et permet de s’interroger sérieusement sur la nature de certains aspects naguère déclarés d’origine uniquement due aux carnivores. De récentes expériences réalisées sur des reproductions d’instruments en ont révélé ses grandes capacités musicales. À côté d’autres données intéressantes, du même site, l’instrument de musique autorise une approche des capacités symboliques à la disposition des Néandertaliens autant que leurs capacités symboliques. Des études multidisciplinaires d’analyses complexes menées sur cette découverte exceptionnelle sont présentées ici pour la première fois, avec les informations sur la chrono-stratigraphie, le paléo-environnement et les contextes archéologiques.
The paper is a critical review of different evidence for the interpretation of an extremely important archaeological find, which is marked by some doubt. The unique find, a multiple perforated cave ...bear femur diaphysis, from the Divje babe I cave (Slovenia), divided the opinions of experts, between those who advocate the explanation that the find is a musical instrument made by a Neanderthal, and those who deny it. Ever since the discovery, a debate has been running on the basis of this division, which could only be closed by similar new finds with comparable context, and defined relative and absolute chronology.
The clastic sediments in the Divje babe I cave consist mainly of autochthonous terrigenous dolomite clasts, allochthonous terrigenous non-carbonate grains, and biogenic fragments, especially remains ...of the cave bear. These components are frequently cemented by apatite and subordinate calcite cement into aggregates (concretions) and into breccia. The formation and transformation of cave sediments were affected by climate and to some extent by the duration of sediment exposure to surface conditions on the cave floor. Congelifracts, a product of frost action, and cavernously corroded clasts, a result of corrosion by condensation and percolating water, were formed before being covered by younger sediments. Thus, the distributions of congelifracts and cavernously corroded clasts can be used to interpret climate changes in the period of 39.7 to 116.1ka, with at least four hiatuses lasting from 9.0 to 39.7ky. Based on the relative abundance of congelifracts, the palaeoclimate record can be correlated with global temperature changes established by oxygen isotopes δ18O from the Greenland ice. The succession C (cold)–H (humid), layers 2 to 11–12, is correlated with the lower part of OIS 3 and OIS 4, while the succession T (temperate)–D (dry), layers 12–13 to 23, is correlated with OIS 5.
•Cave sediments are affected by climatic conditions and duration of surface exposure.•Climate change can be assumed from the distribution of congelifracts and cavernously corroded clasts.•Divje babe I palaeotemperature record correlates well with GRIP (summit).
Detailed studies of cave sediments in the Divje babe I cave, in western Slovenia, have revealed both fossil hairs and the imprints of such hairs present within phosphate aggregates in the clastic ...sediments. These aggregates consist of fine rock and bone fragments, as well as hairs cemented by phosphate precipitated from pore water. The hairs and their imprints were discovered by means of scanning electron microscopy and are likely to have belonged to cave bears, which were the most frequent inhabitants of this cave. From X-ray micro-computed tomography showing the spatial distribution of the hair imprints, and their number, it appears that the hairs did not belong to one particular animal which died at the location where the samples were collected, rather the hairs probably accumulated on the floor of the cave not only from cadavers, but also because hairs were shed during the hibernation of bears and their visits to the cave.
The study of the acoustic and vibrational characteristics of musical instruments in terms of their mechanical behavior, sound emission, and characteristics started thousands of years ago, and among ...the physicists and mathematicians that addressed this matter, we should at least recognize Leonardo da Vinci, with his experimental water organ, and Ernst Chladni, who discovered nodal patterns on rigid surfaces such as soundboards. The growing awareness of our intangible cultural heritage and the need to better understand our roots in the field of music have contributed to increasing the efforts to extend our knowledge in this field, defining new physical parameters, extending the analysis to other musical instruments, and developing new methods to synthesize sound from musical instruments using a simple keyboard.
The contribution is a reply to the article written by Cajus G. Diedrich and published online on the web site of the Royal Society Open Science. Diedrich’s article is fraught with factual errors and ...underestimations of the archaeological and musicological findings. As such, it may cause great scientific damage and should thus not remain uncommented. Only the most prominent errors are addressed.
Different grain size fractions of clastic sediments (40–65, 0.5–3, and <0.5mm) from the Divje babe I cave were chemically analysed. In the chemical composition of the medium and fine fractions, four ...groups of variables were revealed: 1) MgO, LOI, TOT/C — dolomite, autochthonous terrigenous component; 2) P2O5, TOT/S, Mo, Sr, Cu, CaO, and so on — bones/apatite cement, biochemical chemical components; 3) SiO2, Al2O3, REE, Rb, Zr, K2O, Th, TiO2, Fe2O3, and so on — non-carbonate, allochthonous terrigenous components; and 4) U (Cd, MnO) — more mobile chemical components. Vertical distributions of P2O5, SiO2, and U in the fine fraction suggest five geochemical boundaries. The origin of P2O5 is attributed mainly to the cave bear. A negative correlation between the content of SiO2 and cavernously corroded clasts (indicating a humidity), indicates a dominant aeolian transport of non-carbonate material into the cave. Vertical distribution of U indicates the migration of U and its enrichment in the deeper parts of the sedimentary sequence. The mobilization of U was influenced by the duration of exposure of the sediments on the cave floor. The chemical characteristics of non-carbonate material indicate that source rocks probably belong to the Triassic volcanic, volcanogenic and terrigenous sedimentary rocks.
•Chemical composition is used to interpret the provenance of the cave sediment components.•The origin of P2O5 is attributed to the cave bear.•Maximum of SiO2 is explained by the increase of aeolian activity.•Vertical distribution of U indicates the migration of U and its enrichment in the deeper parts.
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