An archaeoacoustics study in La Valltorta Gorge concludes that rock art sites have the best acoustics

The researchers Margarita Díaz-Andreu and Carlos García.
The researchers Margarita Díaz-Andreu and Carlos García.
(11/10/2012)

Archaeoacoustics is an emergent research field which studies the use that ancient societies made of the sound. A pioneering research conducted by the University of Barcelona and the University of Zaragoza used the methodology of this field of knowledge in order to study the sites placed in La Valltorta Gorge, in Castellón. These sites are a great example of Levantine prehistoric art dated at the Epipalaeolithic period (from 9000 to 6000 BC). Among its conclusions, the study highlights the fact that the rock art sites closest to the gorgeʼs shelters have better acoustics than the sites which are not decorated. This fact suggests a strong relationship between rock art and acoustics.

The researchers Margarita Díaz-Andreu and Carlos García.
The researchers Margarita Díaz-Andreu and Carlos García.
11/10/2012

Archaeoacoustics is an emergent research field which studies the use that ancient societies made of the sound. A pioneering research conducted by the University of Barcelona and the University of Zaragoza used the methodology of this field of knowledge in order to study the sites placed in La Valltorta Gorge, in Castellón. These sites are a great example of Levantine prehistoric art dated at the Epipalaeolithic period (from 9000 to 6000 BC). Among its conclusions, the study highlights the fact that the rock art sites closest to the gorgeʼs shelters have better acoustics than the sites which are not decorated. This fact suggests a strong relationship between rock art and acoustics.

The research is explained in the article “Acoustics and Levantine rock art: auditory perceptions in La Valltorta Gorge”, published by the Journal of Archaeological Science, by the lecturer and ICREA researcher at the UB Department of Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology, Margarita Díaz-Andreu, and Carlos García, from the University of Zaragoza. The research group recorded and measured different sounds made in the shelters and in several gorgeʼs sites (human voice, whistles, and clapping), and they analysed aspects such as resonance or echo. The results show that best acoustics matches with the three major rock art shelters, profusely decorated: Saltadora, Cavalls and Civil. Moreover, the study proves that in the inner part of these three shelters, better results are given when facing the gorge; on the contrary, in the minor art shelters better results are given when facing rock art panels. This led us to think that in the minor rock art shelters some individual rituals were performed, whereas in the major ones collective rituals facing the gorge were performed, in which all the community was bring together.

 
The results also indicate that the three major rock art shelters were special for one reason: all of them show different echoʼs directions. In Saltadora and Civil, located at the entrance and at the end of the gorge, the echo was directed downstream and upstream, respectively. Whereas, Cavalls, located in the middle of the gorge, pointed both downstream and upstream, creating a stereo effect.
 
The authors also suggest, as a general conclusion, that La Valltorta Gorge was chosen to be decorated with a view to increasing the perceptual impact of the rituals that may have been held at rock art sites due to the amplification caused by the echoing and resonance.