A high-altitude rock shelter in Nevada has yielded a pair of perfectly preserved elderberry wood flutes decorated with intricate obsidian inlays. Radiocarbon dating places the instruments at approximately 3,000 BCE, making them some of the oldest complex musical artifacts in North America associated with seasonal solar ceremonies.
The flutes were found alongside eagle bone whistles and remnants of sagebrush-woven mats, suggesting a dedicated space for ritual preparation and musical performance during the summer solstice. This find underscores the millennia-long tradition of using sound and music to mark celestial turning points among the nomadic peoples of the Great Basin.