As far as the oral tradition goes however, it is impossible to say how far back our folk tunes go, how many variations and misheard recreations have evolved through the centuries and who may have been the originator. Our species goes back over 30,000 years and our brains have evolved little in that time so any capacity for music we may have now was shared by our ancient ancestors.
I like to think that if we could listen in to the improvised singing sessions around fires 30,000 years ago that we would recognise fragments or even whole sections and that what sounded pleasing to those humans would still sound pleasing to us now. So next time you are whistling a random tune, or humming distractedly while washing up - just think - you could be unconsciously recreating a song from the earliest days of homo sapiens.