Archeologists in Germany have discovered the remains of a notch-flute, made from an ostrich leg bone, which has been carbon-dated to c.35,000 years ago.
The flute has five finger-holes and a notch end - the barrel has snapped below the fifth hole and the rest of the instrument is missing, although apparently the original bone could have been up to 3 inches longer.
The New York Times has a good article about the flute including a sound sample of a replica. The article also links to the original announcement in Nature magazine (a subscription site).
This find extends the known age of instruments we would all recognise as flutes back to 35000 years ago - odd to think that I'm following in quite such a long tradition ...
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