Folia archeologica 36.

Viola T. Dobosi: Ékszerek, hangszerek, különös tárgyak a magyarországi őskőkorban

APPENDIX I. THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE ISTÁLLÓSKŐ FLUTE Ildikó SOPRONI On the basis of its morphological character this find from Istállóskő cave, made from the femur of a young cave bear, may be regarded as belonging to the flute category (transverse flutes). To avoid further is interpretations I think it would be useful to explain the meaning of the names Flöte, Blockflöte, and Querflöte which have been interpreted in so many ways. The German name „Blockflöte" (in other languages recorder, flûte douce, flauto dolce) refers to the wooden plug (Block) which closes (blocks) the head of the instrument leaving only a narrow aperture free. The air blown into the aperture is directed upon the farther edge of the aperture. The sound created by this movement has no modulation and is hardly affected (Fig. 1). The name of this musical instrument be translated into Hungarian as straight or tubular flute (egyenes- or csőfuvola). In Hungary, however, it is known rather as „furulya" (pipe) since in composed music it is a close relative of the shepherds' pipe. The difference lies in the number of finger-holes, that is, while the Blockflöte has eight finger-holes, the folk pipe has only six. On the other hand, the Istállóskő musical instrument belongs to the group of so-called transverse/cross flutes (Querflöte, flûte transversière, flauto traverso). This has been unambiguously verified by the only possible method of playing it. As regards production of sound, this mouthpice was the simplest solution. Blowing is carried out through the blowing aperture across the long axis of the instrument so that the air breaks at the edge of the aperture and as a matter of fact the „mouthpiece" is created by the freely moving lips of the player. This results in vibration of the air column within the instrument. This playing method makes it possible for every player to play with an individual tune even using the same instrument. In the following I enumerate the factors affecting the quality of sounds: — the pitch and volume depend on the length of the tube (this can be modified by covering the end of the tube or with the use of finger-holes) — the volume can be increased further with blowing through the instrument (with stronger blowing) — beside the length of the instrument, the diameter of the bore (mensure) is also an important factor. The shape and dimensions of the aperture (whether it is circular, oval or oblong with rounded angles or whether it is small or large) are also important factors. 3 Folia Archaeologia XXXVI 1985.