Co-founder and former Managing Editor of 'Time & Mind - The Journal of Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture' (Routledge publication: www.tandfonline.com/rtam) and research associate with the Royal College of Art. Is a freelance author and researcher. Email: devereux.uk@btinternet.com
Enclosed prehistoric spaces can have fine echoes. The Hypogeum, celebrated underground ossuary of... more Enclosed prehistoric spaces can have fine echoes. The Hypogeum, celebrated underground ossuary of Neolithic Malta, is the most resonant place to chant a rhythmic ‘Oum’. Are the acoustic features of structures like the megalithic chambers of northern Europe integral to their design? An expert description of their acoustic properties is the point to start.
http://www.landscape-perception.com This website documents a collaborative programme of research ... more http://www.landscape-perception.com This website documents a collaborative programme of research conducted by Wozencroft and Paul Devereux (Princeton University), a key protagonist of a new area of archaeological enquiry, archaeoacoustics, and presents new strategies and outcomes for repositioning attitudes towards heritage. Undertaken over a seven-year period, the research investigates sound and acoustics as key features of prehistoric sacred sites, which have yet to be fully assessed in terms of sonic features and peculiarities. The project significantly expands interdisciplinary research in the areas of art, sound and archaeology, linking analogue pre-computer modes of perception with a distribution method that makes the best of contemporary forms. The research has been published in Time and Mind 4 (2); ‘The end my friend’ in The Design Journal 15 (2); ‘The hills are alive’ in The Wire magazine 339 (Spring 2012) and expanded online at www.thewire.co.uk, and in keynote lectures and seminars at the ‘Punkt’ festival, Kristiansand (2012), ‘Soundworks’, London (2012) and 9th European Academy of Design conference, Porto (2011). The project looks at two locations, including the Preseli hills in Pembrokeshire, site of the bluestones that were transported to Stonehenge in approximately 2500 BC. A parallel study has been made of Avebury, Wiltshire, a constructed sacred site. Wozencroft and Devereux’s investigations at Preseli have unearthed and documented a range of sonic phenomena that defy analysis – a series of lithophones, ringing rocks and other echo-location features that indicate an awareness of sound and acoustics not previously accounted for in the experience of early Homo sapiens. The research explores the potential recognition of Stonehenge as both a sound space and a visual theatre for ritual events. It has also raised key questions about the concentration and sonic dimensions of sacred/prehistoric/protected sites at Preseli, which has 49 – more than any other area in the British Isles
Enclosed prehistoric spaces can have fine echoes. The Hypogeum, celebrated underground ossuary of... more Enclosed prehistoric spaces can have fine echoes. The Hypogeum, celebrated underground ossuary of Neolithic Malta, is the most resonant place to chant a rhythmic ‘Oum’. Are the acoustic features of structures like the megalithic chambers of northern Europe integral to their design? An expert description of their acoustic properties is the point to start.
... Agius felt the design may represent the tree of life and the disks its fruit. ... Acknowled... more ... Agius felt the design may represent the tree of life and the disks its fruit. ... Acknowledgements I am most grateful to Caroline Malone and Simon Stoddart for generously supplying me with their extensive bibliography on Maltese archaeology, and I valued the fieldwork ...
ABSTRACT The Christianisation of later prehistoric sites has been hitherto rarely discussed (e.g.... more ABSTRACT The Christianisation of later prehistoric sites has been hitherto rarely discussed (e.g. Holtorf 1997). However, it is becoming increasingly clear that many churchyards, in particular within the west of Britain possess histories that extend way before their current use and meaning. In this brief note, the authors describe and contextualise a recent discovery of a later prehistoric engraved bowl-mark that was found within the churchyard of St Caffo in Ynys Môn (Anglesey). The church currently standing dates to 1846 and within the curtilage of the churchyard are a number of Early Medieval gravestones, suggesting an earlier church building. The original church, demolished to make way for the current church, was located over a large rock outcrop which during later prehistory was also probably used as a ritual site.
Enclosed prehistoric spaces can have fine echoes. The Hypogeum, celebrated underground ossuary of... more Enclosed prehistoric spaces can have fine echoes. The Hypogeum, celebrated underground ossuary of Neolithic Malta, is the most resonant place to chant a rhythmic ‘Oum’. Are the acoustic features of structures like the megalithic chambers of northern Europe integral to their design? An expert description of their acoustic properties is the point to start.
... No strongly significant astronomical orientations have been found in the lines, but Aveni and... more ... No strongly significant astronomical orientations have been found in the lines, but Aveni and ... There is a surviving tradition in a few isolated Australian Aboriginal tribes where annual ... Bird Symbolism The effigy mounds (above) depicting birds and winged humans were typical of ...
Enclosed prehistoric spaces can have fine echoes. The Hypogeum, celebrated underground ossuary of... more Enclosed prehistoric spaces can have fine echoes. The Hypogeum, celebrated underground ossuary of Neolithic Malta, is the most resonant place to chant a rhythmic ‘Oum’. Are the acoustic features of structures like the megalithic chambers of northern Europe integral to their design? An expert description of their acoustic properties is the point to start.
http://www.landscape-perception.com This website documents a collaborative programme of research ... more http://www.landscape-perception.com This website documents a collaborative programme of research conducted by Wozencroft and Paul Devereux (Princeton University), a key protagonist of a new area of archaeological enquiry, archaeoacoustics, and presents new strategies and outcomes for repositioning attitudes towards heritage. Undertaken over a seven-year period, the research investigates sound and acoustics as key features of prehistoric sacred sites, which have yet to be fully assessed in terms of sonic features and peculiarities. The project significantly expands interdisciplinary research in the areas of art, sound and archaeology, linking analogue pre-computer modes of perception with a distribution method that makes the best of contemporary forms. The research has been published in Time and Mind 4 (2); ‘The end my friend’ in The Design Journal 15 (2); ‘The hills are alive’ in The Wire magazine 339 (Spring 2012) and expanded online at www.thewire.co.uk, and in keynote lectures and seminars at the ‘Punkt’ festival, Kristiansand (2012), ‘Soundworks’, London (2012) and 9th European Academy of Design conference, Porto (2011). The project looks at two locations, including the Preseli hills in Pembrokeshire, site of the bluestones that were transported to Stonehenge in approximately 2500 BC. A parallel study has been made of Avebury, Wiltshire, a constructed sacred site. Wozencroft and Devereux’s investigations at Preseli have unearthed and documented a range of sonic phenomena that defy analysis – a series of lithophones, ringing rocks and other echo-location features that indicate an awareness of sound and acoustics not previously accounted for in the experience of early Homo sapiens. The research explores the potential recognition of Stonehenge as both a sound space and a visual theatre for ritual events. It has also raised key questions about the concentration and sonic dimensions of sacred/prehistoric/protected sites at Preseli, which has 49 – more than any other area in the British Isles
Enclosed prehistoric spaces can have fine echoes. The Hypogeum, celebrated underground ossuary of... more Enclosed prehistoric spaces can have fine echoes. The Hypogeum, celebrated underground ossuary of Neolithic Malta, is the most resonant place to chant a rhythmic ‘Oum’. Are the acoustic features of structures like the megalithic chambers of northern Europe integral to their design? An expert description of their acoustic properties is the point to start.
... Agius felt the design may represent the tree of life and the disks its fruit. ... Acknowled... more ... Agius felt the design may represent the tree of life and the disks its fruit. ... Acknowledgements I am most grateful to Caroline Malone and Simon Stoddart for generously supplying me with their extensive bibliography on Maltese archaeology, and I valued the fieldwork ...
ABSTRACT The Christianisation of later prehistoric sites has been hitherto rarely discussed (e.g.... more ABSTRACT The Christianisation of later prehistoric sites has been hitherto rarely discussed (e.g. Holtorf 1997). However, it is becoming increasingly clear that many churchyards, in particular within the west of Britain possess histories that extend way before their current use and meaning. In this brief note, the authors describe and contextualise a recent discovery of a later prehistoric engraved bowl-mark that was found within the churchyard of St Caffo in Ynys Môn (Anglesey). The church currently standing dates to 1846 and within the curtilage of the churchyard are a number of Early Medieval gravestones, suggesting an earlier church building. The original church, demolished to make way for the current church, was located over a large rock outcrop which during later prehistory was also probably used as a ritual site.
Enclosed prehistoric spaces can have fine echoes. The Hypogeum, celebrated underground ossuary of... more Enclosed prehistoric spaces can have fine echoes. The Hypogeum, celebrated underground ossuary of Neolithic Malta, is the most resonant place to chant a rhythmic ‘Oum’. Are the acoustic features of structures like the megalithic chambers of northern Europe integral to their design? An expert description of their acoustic properties is the point to start.
... No strongly significant astronomical orientations have been found in the lines, but Aveni and... more ... No strongly significant astronomical orientations have been found in the lines, but Aveni and ... There is a surviving tradition in a few isolated Australian Aboriginal tribes where annual ... Bird Symbolism The effigy mounds (above) depicting birds and winged humans were typical of ...
Landscape Relics of Pre-Colombian Shamanisms in the Americas., 2017
The subject of shamanism is primarily approached via anthropology and ethnology, while its materi... more The subject of shamanism is primarily approached via anthropology and ethnology, while its material, archaeological, aspects tend to be restricted to the study of relatively small-scale artefacts or rock art. My interest here in this paper is to focus on examples of landscape-scale material relics of ancient shamanic practice in pre-Colombian America. In some cases, these landscape relics are purely those of shamanism, in others they are expressions of the shaman-chieftain-king progression seen in more hierarchical societies in the ancient Americas. I provide a selective range of examples-most definitely not exhaustive-moving roughly from north to south along North America and Mesoamerica. Finally, I offer informed speculations regarding the meaning of a recurring shamanic landscape characteristic-an apparent obsession with straight linearity. Whiteshell Park, Manitoba, Canada Two neighbouring sacred landscapes are to be found in Whiteshell Park-Tie Creek and Bannock Point. Of these two, Tie Creek is the best preserved, because it is the remotest and access is only allowed with a guide approved by the local Anishinabe (Ojibway) people. The sacred landscape there is comprised of a broad area of tablerock scraped clear by glaciers tens thousands of years ago, on which abstract and figurative designs were laid out by an unknown people long ago using small rocks (petroforms).
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