First Musical Instrument Discovered in Troy in More Than 160 Years of Excavations

A News

First musical instrument found in Troy in over 160 years of excavation history.

Archaeologists have discovered the first musical instrument in more than 160 years of excavations in the ancient city of Troy in Çanakkale, north-western Türkiye.

The find, a bone flute dating to the eighth century BC, was unearthed at the 5,600-year-old archaeological site. Excavations also uncovered a 4,500-year-old human-shaped idol head.

Professor Rüstem Aslan, head of the Troy excavations, said the flute was the first musical instrument to be discovered during the site’s excavation history.

The idol head, meanwhile, was found within a layer of burnt material near the entrances to Troy’s second city, which archaeologists classify as belonging to the Early Bronze Age.

Aslan noted that only three to five comparable objects had been discovered at Troy during more than 160 years of excavations, making the latest find particularly significant. Its position within a specific archaeological layer also provides valuable information for researchers studying the site’s history.

He also highlighted an intriguing connection with preparations for the film “The Odyssey”, particularly its “Song of the Sirens” sequence, in which music was produced using a flute dating to the eighth century BC.

“This year, we found a similar piece of a flute from that period,” Aslan said, describing the discovery as an interesting coincidence in the context of Troy’s excavation history.

He added that Homer, traditionally believed to have lived in the eighth century BC, is considered by many researchers to have put the epic poems into writing during that period.

Aslan said the discovery was significant because it offered a tangible link between the musical instruments described in Homeric epics and an artefact found in Troy in an eighth-century BC archaeological layer.

Source: A News



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