Editing Music (section)

=== Origins and prehistory ===
{{further|Origins of music|Prehistoric music}}
[[File:Super alte Flöte.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|[[Paleolithic flute|Bone flute]] from [[Geissenklösterle]], Germany, dated around {{circa|43,150–39,370}} BP.{{sfn|Morley|2013|p=43}}]]
It is often debated to what extent the origins of music will ever be understood,{{sfn|Merker|Morley|Zuidema|2015|loc=§ "Introduction"}} and there are competing theories that aim to explain it.{{sfn|Morley|2013|pp=2–3}} Many scholars highlight a relationship between the origin of music and the [[origin of language]], and there is disagreement surrounding whether music developed before, after, or simultaneously with language.{{sfn|Wallin|Merker|Brown|2000|p=8}} A similar source of contention surrounds whether music was the intentional result of [[natural selection]] or was a byproduct [[Spandrel (biology)|spandrel]] of evolution.{{sfn|Wallin|Merker|Brown|2000|p=8}} The earliest influential theory was proposed by [[Charles Darwin]] in 1871, who stated that music arose as a form of [[sexual selection]], perhaps via mating calls.{{sfn|Huron|2003|p=61}} Darwin's original perspective has been heavily criticized for its inconsistencies with other sexual selection methods,{{sfn|Huron|2003|p=62}} though many scholars in the 21st century have developed and promoted the theory.{{sfn|Wallin|Merker|Brown|2000|p=11}} Other theories include that music arose to assist in organizing labor, improving long-distance communication, benefiting communication with the [[divine]], assisting in community cohesion or as a defense to scare off predators.{{sfn|Nettl|2001|loc=§&nbsp;8 "On the Origins of Music"}}

[[Prehistoric music]] can only be theorized based on findings from [[paleolithic]] archaeology sites. The disputed [[Divje Babe flute]], a perforated [[cave bear]] [[femur]], is at least 40,000 years old, though there is considerable debate surrounding whether it is truly a [[musical instrument]] or an object formed by animals.{{sfn|Morley|2013|pp=38–39}} The earliest objects whose designations as musical instruments are widely accepted are [[Paleolithic flute|bone flutes]] from the [[Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura|Swabian Jura]], Germany, namely from the [[Geissenklösterle]], [[Hohle Fels]] and [[Vogelherd Cave|Vogelherd]] caves.{{sfn|Morley|2013|p=42}} Dated to the [[Aurignacian]] (of the Upper Paleolithic) and used by [[Early European modern humans]], from all three caves there are eight examples, four made from the [[Bird wing|wing bones]] of birds and four from [[mammoth ivory]]; three of these are near complete.{{sfn|Morley|2013|p=42}} Three flutes from the Geissenklösterle are dated as the oldest, {{circa|43,150–39,370}} BP.{{sfn|Morley|2013|p=43}}{{refn|See {{harvtxt|Morley|2013|pp=43–45}} for a comprehensive table on all eight surviving flutes from the [[Geissenklösterle]], [[Hohle Fels]] and [[Vogelherd Cave|Vogelherd]] caves|group=n}}