The present study examines the earliest known musical instruments, Upper Paleolithic flutes. Flutes dating to the Upper Paleolithic period are the oldest musical instruments that have survived in the archeological record. These have been discovered at archeological sites in Europe dating from approximately 40,000 to 15,000 years ago. Although humans were most likely creating music prior to this time, the people who entered Europe approximately 40,000 years ago began to create musical instruments that have survived to the present day. This study investigates the significance and function of these instruments in Upper Paleolithic culture. Analysis of the artifacts is followed by discussions of archeological contexts, Upper Paleolithic art, ethnographic comparison, and the flute in mythology. Such diverse sources provide multiple layers of evidence regarding the role of the flute in Upper Paleolithic culture. The phallic shape of the instrument and the fact that it is played with the breath, also a symbol of life, connect the flute with the fertility of humans, plants, and animals, the cycle of life and death, and rebirth after death. There is evidence that the flute was intrinsically linked to these themes even in the Upper Paleolithic period, in which the flute was of vital significance, as it was magically imbued with the power to bestow life. / text

Roman Mlejnek Music and Emotions: Psychological Aspects with Regard to the Origin and Evolution of Music Dissertation thesis Abstract Music and emotion is of deep interest in today's research in many different disciplines. This thesis summarizes contemporary knowledge of emotion and analyses music's related phenomena which could enlighten the importance of emotionality (sound, speech, play, movement). Interindividual differences are discussed mainly with regard to musicality. Selected problems (especially from music aesthetics and music theory) are commented from the point of view of contemporary psychology. In the first place, this thesis notices common psychological mechanisms working in music of different types, times and cultures. Special consideration is devoted to the question of the origins of music and it's evolutionary basis. The thesis includes two empirical studies based on questionnaire surveys. The first one explores Janáček's collection of speech melodies with regard to it's potential as research stimuli for research in music and speech. The second one deals with physically experienced reactions and is focussed on musicians and their differences to non- musicians. Key words: music, emotion, origins of music

Music and language are both deeply rooted in our biology, but scientists have given far more attention to the neurological, biological and evolutionary roots of language than those of music. Because of this, and probably partially due to this, the purpose of music, in evolutionary terms, remains a mystery. Our brain, physiology and psychology make us capable of producing and listening to music since early infancy; therefore, our biology and behaviour are carrying some of the clues that need to be revealed to understand what music is “for”. Furthermore, music and language have a deep relationship, particularly in terms of cognitive processing, that can provide clues about the origins of music. Non-verbal behaviours, including voice characteristics during speech, are an important form of communication that enables individual recognition and assessment of the speaker’s physical characteristics (including sex, femininity/masculinity, body size, physical strength, and attractiveness). Vocal parameters, however, can be intentionally varied, for example altering the intensity (loudness), rhythm and pitch during speech. This is classically demonstrated in infant directed speech (IDS), in which adults alter vocal characteristics such as pitch, cadence and intonation contours when speaking to infants. In this thesis, I analyse vocal modulation and its perception in human social interaction, in different social contexts such as courtship and authority ranking relationships. Results show that specific vocal modulations, akin to those of IDS, and perhaps music, play a role in communicating courtship intent. Based on these results, as well the body of current knowledge, I then propose a model for the evolution of musicality, the human capacity to process musical information, in relation to human vocal communication. I suggest that musicality may not be limited to specifically musical contexts, and can have a role in other domains such as language, which would provide further support for a common origin of language and music. This model supports the hypothesis of a stage in human evolution in which individuals communicated using a music-like protolanguage, a hypothesis first suggested by Darwin.

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