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Echoes of Stone and Bone

When did we learn to make melody from stone and bone? Archaeologist Dr Brenna Hassett unearths the origins of human music. Today, she's looking at some hard evidence.

When did we learn to make melody from stone and bone?

Archaeologist Dr Brenna Hassett takes us on a several-million-year-long journey to ask how we came to be the species that makes music. It is the story of noise. Purposeful, beautiful noise. And the unbelievable talent we have for adapting the material world we live in to make instruments that make music.

We have so far looked at the evolution of the human singing voice, and at the very first instruments we would have grafted from grasses, reeds and wood - long since rotted away. It is now time to get to some hard evidence. Evidence that has survived down many millennia: evidence in solid stone and bone.

Written and read by Dr Brenna Hassett
Produced and directed by Becky Ripley

Release date:

14 minutes

On radio

Wed 15 Jul 2026 21:45

Broadcast

  • Wed 15 Jul 2026 21:45

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