A research study in archaeological sites in France and Italy shows the acoustic features of cave paintings
A research study published in Journal of Archaeological Science studies how Neolithic populations of the sites in Baume Brune (Vaucluse, France) and Valle dʼIvidoro (Puiglia, Italy) thought of the acoustic features, in particular their echo, when deciding where to paint. “The obtained results show how prehistoric populations understood landscape not only in tangible elements but also intangible aspects such as the sound” says one of the authors of the article, Margarita Díaz-Andreu, ICREA research lecturer from the area of Prehistory and Archaeology of the Department of History and Archaeology of the UB.
A research study published in Journal of Archaeological Science studies how Neolithic populations of the sites in Baume Brune (Vaucluse, France) and Valle dʼIvidoro (Puiglia, Italy) thought of the acoustic features, in particular their echo, when deciding where to paint. “The obtained results show how prehistoric populations understood landscape not only in tangible elements but also intangible aspects such as the sound” says one of the authors of the article, Margarita Díaz-Andreu, ICREA research lecturer from the area of Prehistory and Archaeology of the Department of History and Archaeology of the UB.
Díaz-Andreu has been doing research for years in the field of archaeoacoustics, the uses of sound in ancient societies. In this case, they studied the rocky cliff of Baume Brune and the area of Valle dʼIvidoro. Both areas had numerous rocky caves but only some of those show rock art. Researchers stated that the ones with a better echo are the ones with a larger amount and more representative paintings. According to the researchers, “this means there is a strong possibility of populations using echolocalization to select the areas where to paint”.
In this last research study, researchers improved their technique to identify the sound features of these places regarding previous studies. Instead of using the binaural technique (with two microphones to record the sound, copying human hearing), a technique used by other teams in Finland for instance, they used Ambisonics, which records the sound with a compact microphone formed by several recorders spherically placed. This system provides more precision. In addition, they could take the acoustic measurements in small parts, therefore it is easier to carry and take it to rock art areas, which are sometimes hard to get to, due the mountain locations.
T. Mattioli, A. Farina, P. Armelloni, E, Hameau, M. Díaz-Andreu «Echoing landscapes: Echolocation and the placement of rock art in the Central Mediterranean», Journal of Archaeological Science, July 2017, DOI: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440317300626