The bridge of an ancient instrument has been discovered in Scotland, and it's dated to 2,300+ years ago. That's getting very close to the period I write.
The bridge is almost certainly from a lyre. At the very least, it gives us the separation of the strings. Ancient instruments are so rare that any little piece adds to our knowledge.
Here's a video about it, in which someone plays a reconstruction:
It's not clear to me that they've got the tuning right, though it was probably Pythagorean, and certainly the style of music is unknowable. But even so, this is fascinating stuff.
The bridge is almost certainly from a lyre. At the very least, it gives us the separation of the strings. Ancient instruments are so rare that any little piece adds to our knowledge.
Here's a video about it, in which someone plays a reconstruction:
It's not clear to me that they've got the tuning right, though it was probably Pythagorean, and certainly the style of music is unknowable. But even so, this is fascinating stuff.