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296Caucasian mountains, use more parallel than drone polyphony. This fact definitelyincreases the strength of parallel polyphony’s claim on ancient universality.• Of all types of polyphony we can safely say that ostinato is the most universaltype of vocal polyphony that was (and is) present in most traditional polyphoniccultures. There are hardly any polyphonic traditions that do not employ the ostinatoprinciple to some extent. Therefore, the hypothetical primordial polyphony must havebeen heavily based on ostinato principle.• I have to suggest that there was no separate function of a bass in the ancientprimordial polyphony of our ancestors. If this idea seems too controversial to theinformed readers, I would like them to pay attention to the fact that Sub-Saharan Africanpolyphonic singing does not seem to be using a bass as a functionally separate part. Itis more a “lowest part” in sub-Saharan parallel polyphony than a distinct “bass” as weknow it from many other cultures from around the world today. The Pygmies’ singingknows no base part either. Even African ostinatos are not necessarily in a lower register.It seems to me that the apparently late appearance of a drone was connected to therelatively late appearance of the function of a bass in the evolution of polyphony.Besides, the drone initially could have appeared as a long (pedal or recited) sound in themiddle and high ranges, not necessarily as the lowest part.• The yodel also has a claim for inclusion among the characteristics of the ancientpolyphony. It is by no means distributed in a lot of cultures, but nevertheless, differentforms of yodel are present in isolated pockets of European, sub-African and even Pacificpolyphonic cultures.• Verbal text must have been absent or kept to a very minimum in this primordialpolyphony (as it is in the polyphony of the Pygmies). Interjections and nonsense syllablesmust have been prevalent at this stage.• It will not be very original for me to suggest that the more likely scale basis forthe most ancient form of primordial polyphony could have been an anhemitonicpentatonic.• Another specific feature that could unite the big European and Africanpolyphonic families seems to be the principle of third substitution of the melodic tones.This principle is at work in such polyphonic cultures as faraway from each other as theSan (Bushman) from South Africa, Georgian, and European professional polyphony.So, to summarize, we have the following description of the ancient “primordial”,or “proto-polyphony”:This was loud, responsorial singing of a large mixed group,rhythmically very precisely organized (most likely in a duple rhythm),accompanied by rhythmic movements, stomping and body percussions.The tempo rose during the singing/dancing, as well as the pitch,together with the general dynamics. Polyphony was based on ostinato,and possibly on parallelism, there was little or no text (mostlyinterjections), and the function of a bass was not yet separated.