Old Stone AgeCulture & Arts First musical instruments c. 40,000 BCEMajor Bone and ivory flutes from caves in Germany are the oldest known instruments. ▲ MattersSaveShareTrace roots Longest chain: The Big Bang → First stars ignite → Supernovae seed heavy elements → The Sun forms → Earth forms → First oceans → First life → Photosynthesis evolves → Great Oxidation Event → Complex cells (eukaryotes) → Multicellular life → First animals → Cambrian Explosion → First vertebrates → Jawed fish → Fish walk onto land → The amniotic egg → The Great Dying → Dinosaurs appear → Asteroid ends the dinosaurs → Early primates → Apes split from monkeys → Human line splits from chimpanzees → Walking upright → First stone tools → Genus Homo appears → Homo erectus → Control of fire → Habitual fire and cooking → Homo sapiens appears → Pigments and symbols → Blombos Cave engravings and beads → First musical instruments Community notesLoading notes… Learn more ranked by votesDocumentnature.comNew flutes document the earliest musical tradition in southwestern Germany (Conard et al., Nature 2009) ↗Editor's pickBookSteven MithenThe Singing Neanderthals ↗Editor's pickVideoSearch on YouTubeoldest musical instrument bone flute ↗Editor's pick