| div class="googleright"> | | | | multiple holed "whistles" made of bone and stone |
| We may never really know when and where the flute | | | | found in a variety of ancient sites throughout the |
| tradition first began in North America. Whatever its | | | | country. |
| origin, the native flute became an important part of the | | | | Another ancient flute-like instrument was the |
| musical heritage of North America. | | | | Hopewellian panpipes, made of varying lengths of bone |
| Most of the ancient predecessors of the native flute | | | | pipes sheathed in a copper band. The Hopewell culture |
| were elaborate derivatives of the whistle. Usually | | | | also had single bone whistles, some with multiple holes. |
| lumped together with the simple whistles, perhaps a | | | | One made of a human bone seems to have been |
| separate category should be created and called | | | | used in a fertility ritual. |
| something like "whistle flutes." This would include the | | | | |