There were, anthropologists tell us, small flutes made of the bones of animals which our distant ancestors used. Along with some kind of drum which seems to be a universal early instrument. But it was a long road from those to Haydn.
Like all roads, to Science, to Art, to Society itself, human endeavours are built up in increments. There are may reasons why this is so but in the main it is because we are taught ways of thinking as children – either by the accidents of childhood or by the design of schooling – and those ways of thinking become our second nature. So much so that ‘new’ ways of thinking sound discords in our brains and we feel disconnected with younger thinkers – also known as a generation gap. But except for the devastations of wars and disease and natural disasters, human society has progressed and it progressed in leaps and bounds when there were sufficient numbers in the world to leave some unaffected by any set-back – there are no more Atlantis incidents. The whole of Europe could disappear and human society would march on.
Of course we argue a great deal over the marching. We still play bone flutes after all, despite now having Haydn.