the Pipe and Tabor compendium

the Pipe and Tabor compendium

essays on the three-hole pipe

Earliest Extant Pipes
Gallery

under construction

Hundreds of examples of broken pipes made from animal or bird bones have been found world-wide. Some of these may have been of the three-hole type that later developed into the three-hole pipe as we know it today. There are also well-preserved pipes with three holes on the front.
   
5th-8th c Low Countries, swan ulna
       

Three-hole pipe (drawing above) and reconstruction (left in photograph) from Poland, currently dated to 11th century.

Polish folk pipes (fujara, fujarka) made of willow bark; up to 40cm long.

 

 

Also see an article on early Russian pipes

This article discusses whether the earliest three-hole pipes were made by early man or were the result of carnivores chewing soft animal bones.



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