Levant-region archaeologists have discovered prehistoric flutes believed to be 12,000 years old. The flutes were scattered among a stockpile of 1,100 bird bones and had gone unnoticed since the site’s discovery in 1950.

The flute instruments were discovered at a site called Eynan-Mallaha [also known as Ain Mallaha], located on the shores of Lake Hula in the Huleh Valley of today’s northern Israel. The site is believed to be home to the last hunter-gatherers in the region, says Dr. Laurent Davin, an archaeologist and a post-doctoral fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The Natufian people were a prehistoric group that lived in what is now modern-day Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and northern Syria around 12,500 to 9,500 BCE. They were known for their advanced hunting and gathering techniques, as well as their unique cultural practices.