Jiahu bone flutes specific notes musical scales

9,000-year-old Chinese flutes were made to play specific notes

Bone flutes from the ancient Chinese settlement of Jiahu were made carefully enough to produce particular musical notes. Their makers therefore appear to have understood how to shape an instrument to control its sound.

One written language crossed a vast empire

The Achaemenid Empire used Aramaic for writing across regions where people spoke different languages. Scholars think this shared written language helped hold the far-flung empire together. Aramaic script and words also remained in the Pahlavi writing system.

Footprints show people were in North America over 21,000 years ago

21,000–23,000 years ago

Human footprints at White Sands National Park have been dated to about 21,000–23,000 years ago. If those dates are correct, people were already in North America thousands of years earlier than a 15,000-year minimum date once often used for migration.

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Jiahu bone flutes specific notes musical scales

9,000-year-old Chinese flutes were made to play specific notes

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