Music Archaeology

Two aulos pairs (Δ1965 and Δ1964), unearthed in 1980 and 2005 respectively at Megara (Attica), are exhibited in the city’s Archaeological Museum. Both are associated with metal sliding keys (resembling the keys on the well-known Pergamon aulos model), either mounted on the pipes (Δ1964) or displayed next to them (Δ1965). The present paper describes the parts, proposes a meaningful re-assemblage of the bone sections, and gives a detailed account of the sliding mechanism, which is here for the first time attested on finds of actual musical instruments, including an entirely new technology of speaker hole keys. A musical analysis, based on determining plausible reed configurations using software modelling, suggests that the finds represent a partially standardised design of professional modulating auloi, playing attested harmoníai while hovering between the enharmonic and chromatic.

The Lamont and Queen Mary harps of National Museums Scotland are two of the oldest surviving examples of the harp of Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland. Growing interest in these iconic instruments has led to a need for new research into their materials and construction. With recent advances in imaging and analytical tools, these instruments can now be examined and understood to a much greater degree than previously possible.

With this in mind, the authors have undertaken a research project to study the Lamont and Queen Mary harps. Each harp underwent CT-scanning, and a visual and photographic survey, with x-ray fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy – energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy of selected areas of interest.  The CT scanning was conducted at the Clinical Research Imaging Centre of Queen's Medical Research Institute, and the survey and laboratory analysis were conducted at the National Museums Scotland Collection Centre.

This paper presents the initial findings of this project. The interior construction of the harps, hidden internal damage and repairs, pattern of the wood grain, and current state of the wood are discussed. Results of the visual and photographic survey and analysis of the composition of pigments and metal parts are also presented and discussed in the context of the findings from the CT scans. Additionally, contour maps of the soundboard thickness generated from the CT scanning data for each harp are presented.

A lot of researches have already bestowed on the chime-bell’s tonic series between the Western Zhou Dynasty and the early Warring States (about 1046B.C. ~400B.C.). After the Marquis Yi of Zeng’s age passed, the chime-bell culture in China began a downside. The academic also paid less attention. But, it was a consecutive process from the bell’s flourishing in Zhou dynasty to its decline in Han dynasty. So if the latter period is ignored, we can hardly make clear of the music phenomenon happened in Han. Thus, this article focus on the tonic analysis of the bells between the middle Warring States and the early Han Dynasty (about 400B.C. ~100B.C.). The thesis concluded the main tonic and scale traits in this period, and clarified the developing trace of the bell tonic series from Zhou dynasty to Han dynasty.

D’une teneur principalement méthodologique et épistémologique, cet article aspire avant tout à remettre en question la démarche de l’archéomusicologie et à proposer une nouvelle approche dans laquelle la recherche se mêlerait à l’artisanat, ainsi qu’à en définir la portée dans la pratique de la recherche archéomusicale. Il aborde la question de la lecture des techniques et des savoir-faire des temps archéologiques, puis propose quelques réflexions sur les connaissances et les démarches archéomusicales. Il finit par la question de l’apport mutuel entre artisanat et archéologie.

O acompanhamento musical das práticas esportivas é uma característica marcante dos jogos na Grécia antiga, seja nos treinamentos, seja nas competições. Este acompanhamento se dava com instrumentos de sopro, especificamente o aulos e a salpinx (trombeta). Amplamente representado na pintura dos vasos áticos de figuras negras e de figuras vermelhas (séc. VI-V a.C.), o acompanhamento das práticas atléticas com o aulos, sobretudo nas provas que integram o pentatlo, tem recebido maior atenção dos estudiosos. Nosso objetivo é abordar a presença da trombeta nos jogos, representada com menos frequência no registro iconográfico, porém informada pelas fontes literárias de diferentes períodos, sobretudo do período imperial (nomeadamente, Plutarco, Ateneu e Pólux). Analisaremos as seguintes situações: acompanhamento musical de corridas (a pé ou de quadriga), contribuindo para marcar o ritmo; celebrações de entrega de prêmios; função comunicativa, pela divulgação de anúncios por intermédio da emissão de sinais; competições para trombeteiros, relacionadas à constituição de um perfil social deste músico-atleta baseado na força muito acima da média. Esta força superlativa, misturada com costumes bizarros, faz do trombeteiro um tipo popular no mundo helenístico-romano.

Swedish archaeology is not spoiled for finds of Medieval music instruments. In the collections of Sigtuna museum there are two tuning keys for string instruments dated to the latter half of the 11th century, and what may be a playing key for a 13th century nyckelharpa; a keyed fiddle.

L’interesse di sovrani e uomini di chiesa per l’organo ha caratterizzato la presenza dello strumento dall’età ellenistica sino a tutto il primo millennio. Scienziati e poeti, scultori e artisti, cronisti e storici hanno espresso, ciascuno con il proprio linguaggio, l’essenza regale della complessa macchina sonora, cogliendo di essa l’aspetto meraviglioso e straordinario, degno di rappresentare l’autorità indiscussa del sovrano che è capace di realizzarla. Tali testimonianze, alcune delle quali sono presentate qui per la prima volta o secondo una prospettiva inedita, raccontano nel contesto delle relazioni tra musica e potere la storia meno nota del ‘re’ degli strumenti.

En El Salvador, el trabajo en materia musical prehispánica es mínimo, lo cual planteó la necesidad de hacer un primer análisis organológico enmarcado en las principales corrientes teórico-metodológicas contemporáneas.

El presente trabajo representa un primer paso; que manifiesta la necesidad de utilizar nuevos parámetros clasificatorios, propone el uso de nuevos métodos de análisis y revela la diversidad de artefactos sonoros de una sociedad de la Zona Oriente de El Salvador, que habitó durante el Período Clásico Tardío el sitio arqueológico Asanyamba.

Når begynte menneskene å lage musikk? Kan arkeologene finne spor etter musisering allerede fra steinalderen? Hvordan var musikkhistorien før den vanlige musikkhistorien starter? I denne boka kan du se hvilke instrumenter folk i steinalderen, bronsealderen og jernalderen spilte. Og du kan bli med å utforske hvordan vi i det hele tatt kan si noe om musikken og sangen for så lenge siden. Du vil også møte flygende sjamaner, flintmusikk, krigerlyrer, kule instrumenter fra antikken, alligatortrommer, neandertalsang og mye, mye mer.

Already in the middle of the 3 rd millennium BC a great number of texts and iconographic documents refer to music and musicians, and a complex hierarchy of musicians is attested. But the beginnings of Egyptian music are much earlier. At first I give an overview of the musicians and instruments in Ancient Egypt. After that, the earliest instruments will be shown. Afterwards the context will be discussed, as well as the question where the instruments come from.

Paper read at the SPAFACON2021 (The 4th SEAMEO SPAFA International Conference on Southeast Asian Archaeology and Fine Arts), held online from 13-17 December 2021.

Abstract
Based on the two inscriptions dated Wednesday 8 September 1546 and Sunday 27 February 1564 on the walls of the North Gallery-East Wing and the East Gallery-North Wing of the 12th century Angkor Wat, George Coedes has dated the completion of the bas reliefs on these wings to the 16th century. This dating underscores that the bas reliefs on the walls of the galleries of the third enclosure of Angkor Wat were not all carved during the reign of a single Khmer monarch.  More significantly is the presence of bossed gongs solely in the north gallery – east wing, where, in other galleries gongs are not illustrated.  Two types of bossed gongs are carved – suspended bossed gongs, single or in pairs, and circle gongs with eight to nine bossed gongs.  It was during the reign of Ang Chan (1528–1566) that the bas-reliefs of the North-East gallery and the East-North gallery were carved in the 16th century.. However, it remains unresolved why gongs were not carved on the two wings that have direct references to Khmer monarchs --- the west-south gallery, with the narrative of the battle of Kurukshetra and the south-west gallery depicts the war exploits of King Suryavarman II, presumably carved the earliest by the 12th century.  Such grand narratives are usually accompanied by gongs.  By the 12th-13th century also, bossed gongs had been circulating along the Gulf of Thailand, Sumatra, Java and Mindanao.

នៃវិចិត្រសាលខាងជើង-ខាងកើតស្លាប និងវិចិត្រសាលខាងកើត-ខាងជើងនៃប្រាសាទអង្គរវត្តសតវត្សទី 12 លោក George Coedes បានចុះកាលបរិច្ឆេទនៃការបញ្ចប់ចម្លាក់លៀននៅលើស្លាបទាំងនេះដល់សតវត្សទី 16 ។ . ការណាត់ជួបនេះបញ្ជាក់ជាចុងក្រោយថា ចម្លាក់លៀននៅលើជញ្ជាំងនៃថែវនៃប្រាសាទអង្គរវត្ត មិនមែនសុទ្ធតែឆ្លាក់ទាំងអស់ក្នុងរជ្ជកាលរបស់ព្រះមហាក្សត្រខ្មែរតែមួយនោះទេ។ សំខាន់ជាងនេះទៅទៀតគឺវត្តមានរបស់គងគងដែលមានតែនៅក្នុងវិចិត្រសាលភាគខាងជើង – ស្លាបខាងកើត ដែលនៅក្នុងវិចិត្រសាលផ្សេងទៀត ឃ្មោងមិនត្រូវបានបង្ហាញទេ។ គងគងពីរប្រភេទត្រូវបានឆ្លាក់ គឺគងគងដែលព្យួរជាគូទោល ឬជាគូ និងគងរង្វង់ដែលមានគងប្រាំបីទៅប្រាំបួន។

The study of music from the earliest past draws upon iconography and archaeology, and any attempt to understand the earliest acoustic ecologies requires some level of approximation based on material artefacts. Participants are invited to offer embodied, experiential, phenomenological, creative, practice-based and practice-led research that explores the sonic contexts of prehistory and antiquity. These explorations may consider the examination of sound-producing objects and musical instruments, acoustics of performance spaces, or role of sound in rituals, ceremonies and everyday events. Research is welcomed that uses digital technologies in (re)constructions of ancient soundscapes, and explorations of sonic textures drawing upon iconographic, archaeological and literary sources. Also considered may be performances or other artistic content, whether focused on musical, sonic, performance or visual arts. They should provide information about the source material which has created the basis of the work, but subsequently freely engage with performative explorations.

In the paper I shall present the archaeological finds of Late Neolithic (or Eneolithic) ceramic drums in the Czech Republic and my considerations on their role in the past societies. The process of their production and practical function (acoustical properties) has been researched through experiments. Their possible social meaning, symbolic significance and style are considered with regard to the other drums coming from the Central Europe and to the other potential forms of drums and percussions.

Prehistorical musical instruments have been explored in archaeology more systematically since the 1970s when music archaeology was established as a field of study. The new awareness initially led to studies centred on retrieving musical instruments that had been missed and were now lost in archives. New discoveries, too, are very object-oriented. This master’s thesis ties together individual finds of the Germanic round-lyre to create a comparative study, in which the main focus is set on their context. Instead of focusing solely on the object, the instrument will be used to get a glimpse of the person behind it, i.e. to face questions of identity. 26 finds dating to A.D. 500-1200 have been included from graves and cultural layers, stretching over central and northern Europe. They have been compared in terms of find context, state of the find, construction of the lyre, materials used, position in the grave, other grave goods and burial structure, considering also similarities and differences in space and time. This has resulted in a division between five possible types of owners/users of the lyre: The professional scop/skáld, the continental elite, the Anglo-Saxon elite, the clergyman and the individual from a lower social standing.

The paper discusses Scandinavian animal bells in a context of pre-historical and early historical soundscapes. The term soundscape in this sense refer to a physical sonic environment as well as the ways of perceiving that environment. Bells, like other sound tools, never sound in isolation, in silent landscapes. They interact with and overlap, polyphonically, other humanly organized sounds as well as sounds from wind, water, vegetation and animals. Through investigations of their use and functions, of how they served as makers of time and space, the paper seeks to understand their cultural significance, and demonstrate how these sound marks were meaningsful symbols to people. The bells will be seen primarily as aural cultural artifacts.
Animal bells are not uncommon artifacts in Scandinavian excavations. The majority of the archaeological finds are dated to the Viking Age (800–1050 AD). The oldest finds date to the Roman Iron Age (0–400 AD), although it is sometimes difficult to determine the function of excavated bells. The most common material in bells was forged iron, though bronze or other copper alloys were also used. Both pellet bells and open bells are found; forms and shapes vary.
Bells are still used in stock-raising in Scandinavia. Sheep, goats, cows, but also horses have used bells.  There is a remarkable continuity of traditions around this artifact. What is often referred to as “ethnographical analogy” will be a relevant method in this case.
Pastoral bells might be regarded as an important identity mark for shepherds, a kind of archetype sound. If an animal is lost or missing from the flock, the bell could help to locate it. This is the most obvious function of an animal bell, and the most important today. Moreover, animal bells have also protected animals against evil forces, or predatory animals, which were believed to result from evil forces. There are a lot of descriptions of rituals with bells that people performed in order to secure their power, including offering food in them or silencing them on certain occasions or places.  It is very likely to suggest a combination of functions; that animal bells were used for magical and ritual purposes, besides the practical functions.

Bells, Pellet Bells and Bell Pendants: Listening to the Iron Age Finland

The thesis addresses the problem of Finnish Iron Age bells, pellet bells and bell pendants, previously unexplored musical artefacts from the 400–1200-centuries AD. The study, which contributes to the field of music archaeology, aims to provide a gateway to ancient soundworlds and ideas of music making. Research questions include: Where did these metal artefacts come from? How did they sound? How were they used? What did their sound mean to the Iron Age people?

The data collected at the National Museum of Finland and at several provincial museums covers a total of 486 bells, pellet bells and bell pendants. By means of a cluster analysis, each category can be divided into several subgroups. The subgroups, which all seem to have a different dating and geographical distribution, represent both local and internationally spread manufacturing traditions. According to an elemental analysis, the material varies from iron to copper-tin, copper-lead and copper-tin-lead alloys. Clappers, pellets and pebbles prove that the bells and pellet bells were indisputably instruments intended for sound production. Clusters of small bell pendants, however, could produce a sound by jingling against each other. Spectrogram plots reveal that the partials of the still audible sounds range from 1 000 to 19 850 Hz. On the basis of 129 inhumation graves, hoards, barrows and stray finds it seems evident that the bells, pellet bells and bell pendants were fastened to dresses and horse harnesses or carried in pouches and boxes. Resulting acoustic spaces could be employed in constructing social hierarchies, since the instruments usually appear in richly furnished graves. Furthermore, the instruments repeatedly occur with crosses, weapons and zoomorphic pendants that in the later Finnish-Karelian culture were regarded as prophylactic amulets. In the Iron Age as well as in the later folk culture, the bell sounds seem to have expressed territorial, social and cosmological boundaries.

Resumen: La arqueología musical se caracteriza por el estudio pluridisciplinar.Uno de los principales debates en la materia es su relación con la Etnomusicología,centrado especialmente en la posibilidad de reconstruir el pasado basándonos en el
presente. Sin embargo, existen nuevas perspectivas de relación entre ambas. En este artículo se propondrá cómo se pueden utilizar diversas metodologías etnomusicológicas
aplicadas a la investigación arqueológica para facilitar la relación de esos parámetros con la música.

Abstract: Pluridisciplinarity is one of Music Archaeology’s core characteristics.Many aspects of its relationship with Ethnomusicology have been widely studied
and discussed, focusing mainly on the possibility of reconstructing the past from the present. Nevertheless, new perspectives for connecting both disciplines have to be examined. In this paper, I will propose several ethnomusicological approaches to the archaeological evidence considering its connections with archaeological theories.

Music was of great importance in ancient Egypt, playing a significant role
in ritual contexts, but also at court festivities and in private households. In the following, it will be discussed what is known about music in ancient Egypt, which instruments  were  used, who  the  musicians  were, how  and where  the  performances  took  place,  and  some  technical  aspects.  Apart from  the  ancient  textual,  archaeological,  and iconographic  sources,  one part of the article will focus on the possibilities and limits of elucidating ancient  Egyptian  music  on  the  basis  of  the  lyrics  of  the  songs  and  the instruments  that  are  preserved,  as  well  as  modern  practical  experiments with replicas of ancient Egyptian instruments.

The archaeological record of the ancient city of Teotihuacan holds the remains of many examples of ceramic multiple flutes with four pipes, known as quadruple flutes, and a variety of miniatures depicting the same kind of instrument. Even though quadruple flutes probably played an important role in ritual and ceremonial contexts of city life in Teotihuacan, they have not yet attracted much attention in the scientific community. Drawing on the pioneering works of musicologist Samuel Martí and archaeologist Laurette Séjourné, as well as recently discovered finds and newly obtained information, this paper provides a detailed discussion of the assemblage from Teotihuacan. Moreover, a comparison will be made with other quadruple flutes found in Mesoamerica, based primarily on morphological and iconographical considerations.

El registro arqueológico de la antigua ciudad de Teotihuacan contiene los restos de muchos especímenes de flautas múltiples de cerámica con cuatro tubos, conocidas como flautas cuádruples, y una variedad de miniaturas que representan el mismo tipo de instrumentos. Aunque es probable que las flautas cuádruples jugaban un papel importante en contextos rituales y ceremoniales de la vida urbana de Teotihuacan, no han recibido hasta la fecha mucha atención por parte de los científicos. Basado en los trabajos pioneros del musicólogo Samuel Martí y la arqueóloga Laurette Séjourné y en hallazgos y datos más recientes, el artículo proporciona una discusión detallada de la colección de estas flautas de proveniencia teotihuacana. Además, las compara con flautas cuádruples halladas en otros sitios de Mesoamérica, tomando en cuenta sobre todo sus rasgos morfológicos e iconográficos.

In: Flower World - Mundo Florido. Music Archaeology of the Americas - Arqueomusicología de las Américas, III. (Matthias Stöckli, Mark Howell und Arnd Adje Both, Hrsg.), Ēkhō Verlag, Berlin, S. 67-99.

En 1976 el Museo Regional de Oaxaca (México) recibió en calidad de donación la colección de instrumentos musicales del etnomusicólogo Samuel Martí (1906-1975). A treinta años del legado de Martí, un proyecto de curaduría ha permitido sacar nuevamente a la luz aquellos instrumentos que formaron parte del acervo personal del connotado investigador mexicano-estadounidense. Si bien algunos de los instrumentos de la colección aparecieron en varias publicaciones de Martí, no se contaba con un registro pormenorizado de cada uno de ellos y no se habían exhibido al público en más de 30 años. En este trabajo se contextualiza la Colección Martí y se presentan algunos ejemplos que destacan por sus cualidades organológicas y complejidad acústica. La documentación de estos especímenes ha permitido a los investigadores contar con elementos para la caracterización organológica y al mismo tiempo ofrece datos para la comparación con ejemplares de otras regiones.

In this article we reach the mytho-symbolic and ritual character of the drum considering the Macedonian (and broadely the Balkan) Traditional culture. We summarize its role in the shamanic activities, afterwards assuming its role as the mystical «mean of transportation", which in the scope of the Macedonian dance «Teškoto» enable the dance leader to separate himself from the earth and its traveling to the «other world». There is an atempt the component of the mystical travel to be found in the dancing on one leg (typical for the «Teškoto» dance) and especially in relation with the appropriate pose of the stork / crane as a paradigmatic zoomorphyc traveler between the worlds. The comparative research shows that the drummer often carries within itself the priest functions. Regarding the way of the performing (kicking/hiting) he is also considered as blacksmith and magician. In the Macedonian traditional culture the both functions were accomplished by the foreigners (most frequently the gypsies - blacksmiths).  All these components emphasize the sacralised animal (horse) as the mediator which was the main factor for achieving the already mentioned functions. At the end we consider the relation between the hiting in the drum, stroke of the thunder, the drummer and the God of Tunder.

The following analysis deals with the “practical” side of the ancient Egyptian love songs: the way they were presented, who the performers were, how and where the performances took place as well as technical aspects concerning singing and reciting. Only the lyrics of ancient Egyptian love songs survived, and they represent only a fraction of the entire art work that love songs represented, in other words it is a framework or skeleton. Considering an opera aria as text only would give a similar mystifying or at least restricted impression. The impact of the human voice on the audience at a live performance as well as music and location are not to be underestimated, beside the entertaining factor that is inherent in the songs. Therefore the aim of this study is to permit an extended perspective on the love songs, beyond the usual focus on their content and grammatical phenomena. To provide the background for these issues, an outline of the love songs is given, touching the question of the authorship of the texts and the melodies, the protagonists in the love songs and their potential roles, as well as the gender distribution, and the
events where the love songs might have been performed. These complex and intricate aspects are very important issues inseparably linked to the love songs and still under
discussion. A detailed analysis would go beyond the scope of this paper but since they relate to the issue, they are briefly summarized. After a brief insight into the content and the question of song or recital, the basics for performances are discussed in detail, focusing on the musicians, from their social
status to period instruments used, and the vocalists, be it reciters or singers. Musicians and singers were organized in complex hierarchies already since the Old Kingdom and
valuable data about their curriculum are known. Although the sound of the singing voice cannot be verified, several depictions hint at sophisticated vocal techniques. Other scenes reveal the spatial relation of audience and actor with the performance situation per se and numbers of the participants being very different from today’s standards.
Afterwards the results are applied to the love songs, and supplemented by general reflections on the relation of melody and text, in order to create a more detailed view
on the love songs, based on the facts currently available.

Draft paper for Till, Rupert (2009) Songs of the stones: the acoustics of Stonehenge. In: The Sounds of Stonehenge. Centre for the History of Music in Britain, the Empire and the Commonwealth. CHOMBEC Working Papers No. 1 . Hadrian Books. ISBN 9781407306308

When contextualising the ancient Greek solmisation system, known from Aristides Quintilianus and one of Bellermann's Anonymi, within its musical and linguistic environment, it emerges that it hardly predates the Roman Imperial period, an important part of whose musical schooling it appears to have formed. The system seems based on a combination of the various vowels' intrinsic F 2 pitch and intensity and reflects the harmonic hierarchies of contemporary music, shedding a much more favourable light on the music-psychological relevance of Aristides' gendered musical notes than is conventionally assumed.