8,000-year-old musical instrument found in northwest Turkey

Instrument unearthed in Bahçelievler, a residential suburb on the outskirts of Istanbul.

Microliths and microburins from the Ein Gev sites. Figure created with Artifact3-D  at the Computational Archaeology Laboratory, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. (photo credit: COMPUTATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGY LABORATORY/HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM)
Microliths and microburins from the Ein Gev sites. Figure created with Artifact3-D at the Computational Archaeology Laboratory, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
(photo credit: COMPUTATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGY LABORATORY/HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM)
An 8,000-year-old musical instrument has been found in northwestern Turkey and is thought to be the first musical instrument found in the region.
The instrument was unearthed in Bahçelievler, a residential suburb on the European side of the Bosphorus. It looks similar to a flue or whistle, with holes that are smaller than 1 centimeter in diameter.
Associate professor Erkan Fidan, a lecturer at BŞEÜ Archaeology Department, said that “after the restoration and print analysis on the object, we are planning on starting a project to play the instrument.”
The instrument was found alongside eleven human skeletons aged at around 9,000 years old as well as a variety of seeds, including einkorn wheat, emmer wheat, barley, lentils and buckwheat. The bones will be analyzed for information about the sex and age of the individuals.
Residents in the area found pieces of ancient ceramics in the yard of their apartment building and archaeologists were called to the site almost two years ago. Excavations have been underway since then.
According to Fidan, the artifacts will be exhibited at the Bilecik Archeology Museum after the restoration process and research are completed.