Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, Serie A 120 453–470 Wien, 15 Jan. 2018 Flutes of the irst European farmers Beate-Maria Pomberger 1 , Nadezhda Kotova 2 & Peter Stadler 3 (with 8 igures and 3 tables) Manuscript submitted on June 22 nd 2017, the revised manuscript on September 9 th 2017. Abstract During the 6 th millennium BC new cultures developed though new subsistence strategies like farming and cattle breeding – combined with sedentariness, new types of houses, new tools and vessels made of burnt clay. Musical instruments created after own imaginations were formed from clay. Fragments of six possible vessel lutes were discovered in Brunn am Gebirge/locality Wolfholz in site 2 and 3, which date 5670–5350 calBC respectively 5300–5250 calBC. Their shapes are cylindrical and subconical. On the front side, they show three inger holes, on the backside one. Reconstruction with suitable mouth pieces allow ive tunes in the fourth and ifth octave with sound levels between 74–93 db. The ranges were calculated until maximal 62 m at surroundings sound level in the free ield of 42 dB. Similar objects, interpreted as idols, were found in the Late Starčevo site of Gellénháza, Hungary, in Ovcharovo-gorata and Hotnitsa in Bul- garia. One ball shaped ocarina derives from Mramor in Makedonia. Longbones of birds were still used in creating musical instruments as the small bone whistle from Sesklo, Greece, Middle Ses- klo culture proves. Another fragment of a pipe with a inger hole was unearthed in Anzabegovo, Macedonia. The oldest pan pipe belonged to the grave good of a rich man’s burial in Mariupol, Ukraine, from the Lower Don culture. Music – compositions with melodies up from the fourth octave – played certainly an important role in every day’s live as well as in cultic ceremonies of the Early Neolithic people. Keywords: Early Neolithic, clay vessellutes, pan pipe, whistles, acoustics, distribution. Zusammenfassung Im 6. Jahrtausend v. Chr. entstanden neue Kulturen bedingt durch neue Wirtschaftsweisen – Ackerbau, Viehzucht – kombiniert mit Sesshaftigkeit, neuen Haustypen, neuen Geräten und Gefäßen aus gebranntem Ton. Doch nicht nur Geschirr, sondern auch Musikinstrumente, erzeugt 1 Institute of Prehistory and Historic Archaeology, University of Vienna, Austria. Franz Klein-Gasse 1, 1190 Wien, Austria 2 Institute of Archaeology, National Academy of Science, Kiev, Ukraine 3 Natural History Museum Vienna, Department of Prehistory, Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna, Austria; e-mail: peter.stadler@nhm-wien.ac.at