Geissenkloesterle (Germany), 42,000 years ago. Those living in the cave of the Danube basin made a flute with bird bones and mammoth ivory. At the same time, the inhabitants of the cave of Divje Babe in Slovenia also made a flute with the femur of a bear. These are the oldest instruments found and dated so far. And therefore, we know that by then music was already made. But hominids don't need instruments to make music, they just need their voice.

530,000 years ago hominids had the hyoid bone in almost the same position. I mean, they had the physical ability to make sounds and sing. What do we start before, to speak or to sing? The theory that music and language have the same origin has been the subject of debate in recent decades.

Researchers at the University of Keio (Japan) Yuto Ozaki and Patrick Savage recently published a study on this topic in the journal Science Advances. After analyzing songs, melodies and speeches from 50 languages, they have hinted that music evolved as a more effective and emotional form of communication.

In addition, Savage himself has recently participated in another study, led by San Passmore, of the National University of Australia. The free Global Jukebox database has compared the styles and geographic origins of about 5,000 songs with databases that collect genetic and linguistic diversity. The results show that musical history is not as closely related to language and genetics as was thought, but is closer to other markers, such as social organization.

These studies corroborate that the relationship between music and language is complex and diverse. They suggest that music facilitated language development by establishing a structural basis for oral communication. The work has not given a concrete answer to the question of the title. But they serve to dig a little bit deeper into the connection between the evolution of our species and music.