Globular Flute
Wednesday, 16. January 2008, 07:49:02
Archaeological site Mramor near Cashka
Kept in the Womb of the Earth for six thousand years the echo of the past rumbles again
The archaeological site Mramor near the village Cash¬ka, is located fifteen kilometers north from Veles. According to few archaeological excavations and material finds on this site a Neolithic settlement is confirmed.
The life of the settlement is determined, according to the two horizons, in the Middle and late Neolithic period; or more precisely according to archaeo¬logical finds and objects this site belongs to the Anzabegovo-Vrsnik cultural group or more accurately, from the second to the fourth phase.
The settlement was raised on a flat terrace framed by Topolka and Mala Reka Rivers. The main conditions for peace¬ful and durable life of the settlement were not only the fertile soil, abundance of water, pastures and wooded areas, but also the mild climate.
During that long standing existence of the set¬tlement, rich material (ceramics, bone tools, stone tools e.t.c.)" and spiritual culture (figurines, sacred and ritual vessels e.t.c.) was created and produced.
Only small areas of the settlement are excavated but according to the collected results, data and finds it is possible to penetrate in the nucleus of all parts of the Neolithic life.
For a moment, these discoveries allow us to per¬ceive the essence of the Neolithic man, not only his everyday life but also to protrude into the deepest and primordial seg¬ments of the spiritual life.1
The subject of our interest is a small clay artifact discov¬ered during the archaeological excavations in that area of the site, which was cultivated by mechanical tools.
The object is made of refined reddish clay and on some places darker color as a result of fire is noticed.
The find is completely preserved and it has irregular round or globular form with diameter of 4,7 centimeters and hollow interior.
Surface of the find is without decorative elements.
This find has three holes with different di¬ameters (0.4-0,6 centimeters) placed as apexes of a triangle.
The apex positioned at the top of the imaginative triangle is wider than the other two and in that part the find is partially leveled.
The other holes are identical, (fig. 1, 2).
Application of the find had been unknown but doubts that the find is a musical instrument have been confirmed. Namely, completed expertise has shown that this archaeological find is a globular flute.2
As we already presented, the archaeological site be¬longs, chronologically and culturally, to the Anzabegovo-Vrsnik Culture or more precisely to the so-called IInd-IVth phase of this Culture.3 We shall make comparative analysis of this group with other cultural groups from the Balkan Peninsula, which over¬lapped with it in order to make accurate and precise chronologi¬cal determination.
Anzabegovo-Vrsnik II-IV phase in many similarities and aspects is analogous to Starcevo Culture in its lla-lIrd phase.
The radiocarbon C analysis has shown that Starcevo lla-lll phase is from 5000 BC (5050 year BC +/-100 years) to 4500 BC (4950 year BC 7- 65 years).
Anzabegovo-Vrsnik IVth phase follows Vinca Culture in its early phase of Vinca-Tordos I or Vinca A which existed after 4000 BC (4270 BC 7- 50 years).
Middle Neolithic phase of Anzabegovo-Vrsnik IVth culture ex¬isted for a long period and with its end it penetrated into the beginning of the late Neolithic period.4
Anzabegovo-Vrsnik shows synchronism with the Karanovo Culture or its IInd-IVth phase which is chronologically determined between 5700-5300 BC5, and with the Sesklo Cul¬ture dated between 5300 and 4400 BC.6
Therefore, the Neolithic settlement at the site Mramor near Chaska is dated in wider chronological frames from 5000 BC to 4000 BC.
The fact that globular flute was found outside archaeological context makes difficulties in precise chronology of the find.
Yet, chronology of the settlement is considered as chronology of the artifact.
Traces of fire visible on some part of the globular flute imply that it belongs to the older archaeologi¬cal horizon of cultural development.
Namely, archaeological ex¬cavations have confirmed that this settlement suffered by fire.
The absence of decorative elements is another plausible ele¬ment to the suggested chronology because in the later phases of the Neolithic period vessels for specific or cult purposes are, by definition, decorated.
The following text deals with the attempt of appropri¬ate analysis of the globular flute compared with similar finds from the archaeological sites.
We divided these archaeological sites in two groups.
In the first group are archaeological sites that have chronological and cultural similarities, and another group consists of archaeological sites where the same type of the find had been discovered.
We started our tracking on the wider area of the Bal¬kan Peninsula by investigating cultures that are connected with the archaeological site Mramor by chronology.
The vast region that belongs to the Vinca culture, that is the territory of the Balkans, comprises archaeological arti¬facts so-called rattles' (fig. 3-6).
These are small objects made of clay in various forms (anthropomorphic, zoomorphic or in the form of vessels).
The interior of the rattles is empty and small balls of clay or stones are placed in it.
Similar rattles have been found in Moldova and these objects belong to the Cucuteni culture8 (fig. 7).
Few musical instruments were found on the territory of ANCIENT MACEDONIA…
or Former Turkish Province of Yunanistan.. nowadays “Greece”.
We are going to mention the "flute" discov¬ered at the Neolithic settlement Dispilio in Castoria9, which is dated around 5500 BC, and the "flute" at the Museum in Volos that is found on the acropolis of the archaeological site Sesklo10 (fig. 8), dated in the Middle Neolithic period.
In this context, we are going to mention the "flute" dis¬covered in Divje babe I in the Idrijca valley in western Slovenia (fig. 9).
The flute is dated in the wider chronological frame of the European Paleolithic (45 000 years old), but its function and purpose are under doubts by the experts.11
Possibilities for discovering musical instruments that be¬long to the prehistoric times are extremely limited.
This situation rests on the fact that most of these musical instruments were made of organic materials that are easily disintegrated.
Yet, their development and evolution could be observed through prehistoric figurines that represent players,12 and through writ¬ten sources'"(fig. 10,11).
In the later periods, which follow the Neolithic period, other forms of musical instruments appeared.
These instruments followed the way of creation and function of the culture to which they belonged.
The pipes discovered on the archaeological site Widow (Ireland) are dated in the Bronze Age. The experts have implied that these pipes may have been part of a multi-flute instrument or pipe organ (fig. 12).
The old¬est wind instrument from Ireland, discovered in an archaeologi¬cal context, has been dated in Vl-V BC.
Ireland does not lack musical instruments of prehistoric date.
Most notable are the truly spectacular cast bronze horns of the later Bronze Age and Iron Age.
The only other wooden instruments, made of yew wood, are a set of four curved pipes from Killyfadda (Co. Ty¬rone 400 BC), the Bekan Horn from Co. Mayo dating to 700 AD and a short conical wooden horn from the River Erne in Co. Fermanagh dated to 700 AD.
In Scotland are discovered few examples of horns.
The oldest preserved horn, dated in VII BC, is from the southwestern part of Scotland.
The horn had been found near mediaeval archaeological site at Innermessan near Stranraer. in modern Dumfries and Galloway.14
In the following text, I shall mention instruments that have many analogies with the instrument that is subject of our interest. In this context, I will refer to flutes recovered from the Jiahu archaeological site in Henan Province, China.
These flutes are made from bird's bones and they have five to seven holes.
The archaeological site was occupied between 7,000 and 5,700 BC.15
The Chinese Xun16 or globular flute (fig. 14) had been known since the Neolithic period.17 Recently discovered small simple globular flute in the neolithic site of Tieshan, close to the town of Lushun, is regarded as the ancestor of the Xun.
Accord¬ing to the periods, the Xun finger holes number changed but the overall shape stayed unchanged.
The xun has an ovoid shape with a flattened base and a mouth piece located at the apex.
The Xuns excavated at the sites preciding the Shang period (pre 1766 BC) measured from 5 to 8 cm and had three finger holes. During the Shang dynasty (1766-1122 BC), this number increased to five.
At that period, the flutes were often decorated with heads of mythical animals. It is also in this time that we can find the first written sources about Xuns.
The Xun can be connected with the Korean Hun and the Huan in Vietnam, but the Japanese Tsuchibue appeared towards 250 BC. It has six finger holes (four and two) but as a difference of the xun, the mouthpiece is opened in the largest end of the instrument.
The globular flute-ocarina is a common find on the ar¬chaeological sites from the pre-Columbian America19 (fig. 15).
The native American population made this type of instruments in different zoomorphic and anthropomorphic forms. Develop¬ment of the rituals of the oldest cultures in Central and South America created "dancing instruments" that resulted with the appearance of ocarinas and two-chambered wind vessels/in¬struments.
Aztecs have brought the ocarina in Europe.
Namely, Ferdinand Cortes had sent a group of Aztec musicians and dancers at the court of Charles V and this group had performed for the pope Clement VII.
According to the previous facts the globular flute emerged on three different continents. Therefore, the oldest examples of this instrument had independent evolution. Music and dance19 were part of the life of the Neolithic man (fig. 16).
Thus, the beginning of the music and creation of musical instru¬ments should be revealed from the earliest prehistoric times.
This statement rests on the fact that most of musical instru¬ments that have been discovered have more developed form that indicate that the process of making musical instruments knew older tradition which is hidden in the layers of soil.
The principal question is what were the preconditions and needs for the Neolithic man to produce music and to create musical instruments. Unfortunately, it is difficult to answer this question particularly when someone speaks about the Neolithic period.
This situation is supported by the fact that our knowledge about the prehistoric spiritual life is fragmented and incomplete, which is not the case with the material or profane culture.
Sociological and psychological criteria are limited and not sufficient when someone starts to explore the art of the particular period i.e. the Neolithic period. It is difficult to find de¬cisive determinant for the art which had been developed in ho¬mogeneous communities in the Neolithic period.
In this period, there were neither evident social layers nor differences in the possessing of tools for manufacture.
In that society there was no obvious antagonism between the individual and the com¬munity, as well as the complex problem of Individual freedom and above individual need".
Yet, the Neolithic art (i.e. rattles and globular flute) was connected with social, economic and psychological forces, simultaneously changing them along with the way of life in that period. The musical instruments were not made for leisure.
Someone could assume that they were a product of constant struggle between man and its environment.
They were used as tools for adjustment and protection in order to congregate essential values of life.20
Forces of nature were incorporated in the Neolithic artifacts and therefore the rela¬tion between these forces and the believers were immediate. The religion in the Neolithic period was popular and rituals con¬nected with everyday life expressed it.21
Most of the archaeolo¬gists and experts who research this issue have accepted these conclusions.22
Finally, the discovering of the globular flute at the ar¬chaeological site Mramor, among other musical instruments from the Neolithic period (i.e. flutes and rattles), is a contribu¬tion in demistification of the mystery of music and dance as a part of the spiritual vigor of the Neolithic man in the region of the Balkan Peninsula.
Translated by: Anita Vasilkova-Midoska
ИЛУСТРАЦИИ ILLUSTRATIONS
1)Т.Јовчевска, Куќата од Хоризонт I сo неолитскта населба Мрамор кај Чашка, Macedoniae Acta Archaeologica 13, Skopje 1993, 31-41; Eadem. Мрамор-Чашка неолитска населба. Artieolo§ki Pregled 29 (1988). Ljubljana 1990, 56-58.
2)The ocarina was discovered and named in the Western world by Guispe luigi Donati in 1853. It is globular flute with additional opening or a mouth.
The word derives from the Italian word 'oca'- goose, and ocarina means small goose.
Ceramic ocarina is 12 000 years old.
The oldest examples-small instruments which had form of birds or other animals are made of terracotta were known in India 6000 years ago
(Taken from: http://www.sifflets-en-terre-cuite.org/html/Def/ocarina.html; http://www.congbirdoca-rina.com/history2.html)
3)M. Gimbutas. Neolithic Macedonia I. Los Angeles 1976
4)N. Tasic. Hronologija starcevacke kulture (ungedruckte Dissertation. Beograd 1977);
M. Garasann, Centralno-balkanska zona. Praistorija Jugoslavenskih zemalja II Sarajevo 1979.84-106.141-143,634, Idem. Der spate balkanisch-analolische Kompleks em Ruckbtick nach vier Jahrzehten, Starinar n.s. XLVII, Beograd 1997. 30; Idem. Kulturstromungen im Neolithikum des Sudlichen Balkanraumes. Prahistorische Zeitschrift 73/1.1998,25ff.
5) Hiller-V. Nikolov, Karanovo. Die Ausgrabungen im Sudsektor 1084-1992 Ml, Sofia 1997; Y. Bojadziev. Chronology of Prehistoric Cultures in Bulgaria, 149 ff. bzs 16ff und zusammenfassend; D H.Todorova, l.Vaisov, Novokamenata epoha v Bugarija. Sofija 1993.64-93.
6) The Neolithic sequences in Tessaly, Middle Neolithic (or "Sesklo culture)(ca.5300-4400 b.c. at Sesclo itself). http://projectsx dartmouth.edu/history/bronze_age.
7)S. Jovanovic, Neolitsko naselje Kremenjak kod Otpornja. Kalalog. Vrsac 1982. 14; F. Milleker. Vorgeschichte des Banates II. 1983. Taf.lX, Starinar III, Beograd 1938; B Stalio. Nedit na tlu Srbije. Beograd 1977. Katalog, 90.106.109; M Bogdanovfo. Stare kuhufe na tlu centralne Srbije. Kragujevac 1981, Katalog, 25,112; N. Таѕл. Neolitska plaslika. Beograd 1973. Katalog. 112. Tab XXX; B Jovanovin, Trnovaha, Baranda-naseqe vinhanske grupe, Arheoloski pregled 6. Ljubljana 1964. 13-15; Neotrt juinog Banala. Kaialog. Panhevo 1978. 19; S. Jooti. Antropomorfna zveTika a Barande. Glasnik. PanTievo 1988.1,25.
8)T.S. Passek. KSIIMK 56,1954.94,95; M Gimbutas. The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe 65O0-35O0 BC, Los Angeles 1982.204. fig 154.
http://www.mlahanas de/Greeks/LX/DispifoTabtet.html
10)D.R Theoctians. Neolithik Greece. Athens 1973, fig. 241
11)Turk. Mojstenan Bone Flute. Znanstvenoraziskovalm Center Sazu. Ljubljana 1997;
B Bower. Doubts aired over neanderthal bone 'flute' (and reply by musicologist Book
Fink), Science News (Apnl num.4). 1998. 215; Nowell amd Chase, Slovenske novine
23-11-1996. 328; Bob Firk (http;// www.webster.sk.ca/greenwich/flcompl.html); Idem.
A Bone to Pick. Antiquity Journal
12)A. Cermanovic-Kuirnanovic. D. Srejovic, Leksikon religija i mitova drevne Evrope.
Beograd 1992.376; S. Kochav. Izrael. Zagreb 2000.54. si 54; Muzeji sveta. Arheoloski
Muzej-Atina. Vuk Karacic. 1979.20-21.
13)R.Ouev. 'tu-qa-no? ZA 52 Skopje 2002,137-141; idem. Avlosi (auro?-auloi) bo микенскиот свет?. ZA 53. Skopje 2003.15-22.
14)M. Gowen. Unique prehistoric musical instrument discovered in Co.Widow.
http://www.mglarc.com/projects/musical_instrument.htm
15)BBC News Online. Science Edition. Editor Dr David Whitehouse. September 23. 1999.
'16)and this instrument is still in use in Asia during Confucian rituals The ideogram for the
“xun” represents the feeling full with trie sadness of the separation when a good-bye
should be said”, and this instrument is still in use in Asia for Confucian rituals.
17)http://www.sifflets/en-terre-quite.org/html/Def/ocarina.html
18) http://songbirdocarina.conm/history2/html
19) On the images of itiphallic ritual scenes on the walls of the caves are ob¬served men and women figures in ritual dance; B. Герасимова, Т. Стоичев. Итифаличесхи ритуални сцеки в пешерната монохромна живопис пo нашите земи, Годишник на Националнии археологически музеи, Софија 1992.89-103.
20)Д. Срејович , Неолитска пластика централнобалканског подручја, Неолит централног Балкана, Београд 1968.178-223.
21)А. Cermanovic-Kuzmanovic. D. Srejovic, Leksikon religija i mitova drevne Evrope, Beograd 1992, 373-378 и наведената библиографија.
21)Д. Гарашанин, Религија и култ неолитског човека на централном Балкану. Неолит централног Балкана. Београд 1968, 241-258; M.EIijade. Istorija vjerovanja i religijskih ideja I, Beograd 1991.31-52.
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