Invention does not mean everyone had the sense to make use of it nor does it means the invention was deliberate. A flute could have been a unique thing that was handed down and was not fabricated on a wide scale. A reasonable scenario is someone picks up a bone to suck or blow out of the marrow, only to find this unique fragment of bone makes a sound; dog teeth marks in the bone. It is handed down for generations with little tweaks here and there. Beads; one can find shiny round rocks and gold in the river bed and collect then. This is handed down and the collection grows.
Often discovery is accidental. Fire and cooking could come from a forest fire, with dead animals having been cooked by the forest fire. This tasted better than raw, but once the fire goes out the discovery is gone until next year. The next seasonal fire will bring good fortune again with feeding the fire, both wood and dead animals, gradually dawning on them. This would be taboo at first, like anything new even today, since the elders would be afraid of change. But the younger generation persists only to become the new inhibition of the future; slows the pace. I suppose the slow pace makes sure the speed of invention is not too fast to where you loose everyone.
But eventually, about 6000-10,000 years ago, the pace of invention quickens.
Often discovery is accidental. Fire and cooking could come from a forest fire, with dead animals having been cooked by the forest fire. This tasted better than raw, but once the fire goes out the discovery is gone until next year. The next seasonal fire will bring good fortune again with feeding the fire, both wood and dead animals, gradually dawning on them. This would be taboo at first, like anything new even today, since the elders would be afraid of change. But the younger generation persists only to become the new inhibition of the future; slows the pace. I suppose the slow pace makes sure the speed of invention is not too fast to where you loose everyone.
But eventually, about 6000-10,000 years ago, the pace of invention quickens.