What's your favourite possession and why? Or more than one item, if you like!

My replica Neolithic and Iron Age IIA clay figurines that were made by archaeologists and students at various archaeological sites in the Levant. Most of them were made using the known source of clay and formed using moulds or shaped by hand in the same way as the original figurines were made. They are very special and I spend a lot of time looking at them. I had the loan of two original ancient figurines until recently, but they needed to be returned to their country of origin.

ArchaeC said:

replica Neolithic and Iron Age IIA clay figurines

How wonderful, I envy you and completely understand your joy about these items. I've a friend who makes replica Neolithic musical instruments also various ancient ethnic drums. I love programmes like Digging for Britain, where they make replicas according to ancient practice. Also, listening on YouTube to how these might have sounded in caves. These things really bring history alive and I wish the programme makers would do more of this. There is interesting research on connections between rock art, religion and soundscapes which sounds like a fascinating project.

ArchaeC said:

replica Neolithic and Iron Age IIA clay figurines

How wonderful, I envy you and completely understand your joy about these items. I've a friend who makes replica Neolithic musical instruments also various ancient ethnic drums. I love programmes like Digging for Britain, where they make replicas according to ancient practice. Also, listening on YouTube to how these might have sounded in caves. These things really bring history alive and I wish the programme makers would do more of this. There is interesting research on connections between rock art, religion and soundscapes which sounds like a fascinating project.

I was enthralled by the possibility of the flute having been played by a Neanderthal person. The arguments ‘for’ are mostly persuasive while not all the arguments ‘against’ are strong enough (in my opinion). There is a reluctance to commit to an argument ‘for’, which is understandable, based on one only known instrument. 

Just think that the flute could have been played by one of your ancestors.It’s a remote possibility, yet the person was somebody’s ancestor. I love this sort of thing so thank you for posting Marianne72 

The ‘protoclarinet’ in the other video was a convincing possibility. Humans evolved to become sophisticated over many thousands of years before neolithic times so inserting a reed isn’t so much of a stretch.  

Marianne72 said:

I've a friend who makes replica Neolithic musical instruments also various ancient ethnic drums

What a great thing to do! It would be fascinating to understand more about how music might have been used within different spaces. 

I’ve had a quick scan of your links and they look interesting. I will enjoy these properly tomorrow as I need to get to sleep.

There are some ancient clay Levantine figurines of a person playing a lyre type instrument or a drum in a collection somewhere, but I don’t recall how many are known.