One thing that distinguishes Central- and East-Frisia from West-Frisia are the many finds of flutes. A total of at least twenty-four bone flutes has been unearthed from the terp mounds in the modern province of Fryslân and an additional nine have been found in the mounds from Groningen. That’s a lot of flutes; an indication that flute-playing might once have been very popular!
One reason for this could be that most players made their own instruments. Most flutes were homemade by boring holes in the bone with a knife or with a piece of red-hot iron, giving some flutes a ragged or mottled appearance. Specialised workshops for making flutes cannot be ruled out, since some well-made specimens also exist, but by and far most flutes appear to have been homemade. Most flutes were made from the tibia (shin bone) of sheep and measure between 10 and 16 cm. Flutes made from the ulna of swans also exist, notably the ones from Westeremden in Groningen and Huzum in Fryslân. These type of flutes are far less common, but usually very well-made. They measure between 17 and 21 cm. Several flutes from early medieval Frisia can be admired in the online collections of the Fries Museum and the Groninger Museum!
Since flutes were once popular in early medieval Frisia, we decided to get ourselves a bone flute. Thanks to Don Shaw from Inspirational Instruments for the amazing craftsmanship! The original flute in the picture is the flute from Feerwerd in Groningen. Furthermore, an audio file is attached that shows the sound of a bone flute.
Sources and further reading:
- Leaf, H., ‘English medieval bone flutes – a brief introduction’, The Galphin society journal (2006) 13-19.
- Roes, A., Bone and antler objects from the Frisian terp-mounds (Haarlem 1963) 59-61.
- Collectie Fries Museum: https://collectie.friesmuseum.nl/?query=*:*&sortBy=icn_notes
- Collectie Groninger Museum: https://grm-collections.adlibhosting.com/ais6/search/simple
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