Hey there!
This week I read a cool article from the ExArch experimental archaeology archives called ‘A Singing Bone from the Mätäjärvi (‘Rotten Lake’) Quarter of Medieval Turku, Finland: Experimental Reconstructions and Contemporary Musical Exploration’ by Riitta Ranio (et al.) that was published in November of 2021. This article describes a recreation of a medieval (sheep or goat) bone flute that was dound in Finland. What I found interesting about this article is that it focuses on a crudely made flute that would have (likely) been used and created by someone who was not an expert in this craft. It’s easy for researchers to only choose to recreate the best of the best, but there is so much value to be found in works that are less polished as well. This bone was probably made in someones free time (for fun?), rather than as or related to their profession.
After remaking the flute, a professional flute player spent around a year regularly playing this flute to try to figure out how it would have been played and how the original would have sounded (sound clip included). Thats a lot of time and effort to put in after the recreation has been finished, and shows true dedication on the parts of the researchers (and flutist!). This article really makes a point of displaying that a recreation is not the end point of an experience/experiment, sometimes its just the beginning.
Figure 1. The original bone flute found in Finland
Figure 2. The recreations (the upper one cracked and was unusable, leaving only the lower in tact)
Read the article here: https://exarch.net/ark:/88735/10604