A Lithophone: Who knew??

[Charl]

This most unusual artifact is in a friend's collection. Never heard of such a thing; I would have assumed, just as my friend did, that it was a pestle.

Image of the Day : Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

 

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[Charl]

How about a concert?

Cavemen's 'rock' music makes a comeback - Telegraph

And the full article describing the lithophones from New England:

http://www.duncancaldwell.com/Site/... as printed July 2013, AQ78(3)06-Caldwell.pdf

The lesson? Check your cylindrical pestles; some may instead be musical instruments.

 

[Charl]

The lesson here, if you read the full article, is to check any much larger then normal pendants and check cylindrical pestles. If the pestle does not show typical pestle usage wear, it may in fact be a musical instrument. These artifacts are probably spread over the entire continent and they have essentially gone recognized until now. Here is an oversized "pendant" posted here a couple years ago. I suggested whetstone, but flintmel thought no. But, this may have been a type of perforated Lithophone. Read the above linked article to understand how perforated stone rods may be musical instruments.

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/n...1-found-2-pieces-anyone-know-why-so-huge.html

 

[Charl]

Two perforated stone rods from an archaic site in Maine. These puzzling artifacts may in fact have been musical instruments used in funeral ceremonies, as they are usually found in burials...

 

[1320]

Makes me wonder if that technology traveled to North America via Africa?

 

[1320]

Gonthier, a former jeweller and stone-cutter, discovered their true, musical potential when he tapped one with a mallet in the storeroom of the museum in 1994.

I would like to see more scientific study to convince me though......lol.

 

[Charl]

Gonthier, a former jeweller and stone-cutter, discovered their true, musical potential when he tapped one with a mallet in the storeroom of the museum in 1994.

I would like to see more scientific study to convince me though......lol.

Yeah, acoustic archaeology is a very new branch of the discipline, and it is exploding in studies at the moment. They are present in many cultures around the world. No surprise that they can be found in NA as well. I think Duncan's study showed the New England examples matched all the traits of known lithophones, leaving little doubt. And since they are usually found buried with the dead, that they may have played a role in funnary rites seems very reasonable as well. Recently, it was announced that the giant standing stones at Stonehenge were in fact lithophones!!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...ones-sound-like-bells-drums-gongs-played.html

"Stonehenge may have been built by Stone Age man as a prehistoric centre for rock music, a new study has claimed.According to experts from London's Royal College of Art, some of the stones sound like bells, drums, and gongs when they are 'played' - or hit with hammers.
Archaeologists, who have pondered why stone age man transported Bluestones 200 miles from Mynydd Y Preseli in Pembrokshire, South West Wales to Stonehenge, believe this discovery could hold the key. The 'sonic rocks' could have been specifically picked because of their 'acoustic energy' which means they can make a variety of noises ranging from metallic to wooden sounding, in a number of notes.Research published today in the Journal of Time & Mind reveals the surprising new role for the Preseli Bluestones which make up the famous monument, and which were sourced from the Pembrokeshire landscape on and around the Carn Menyn ridge, on Mynydd Preseli, South-West Wales. A significant percentage of the rocks on Carn Menyn produce metallic sounds - like bells, gongs or tin drums - when struck with small hammerstones. Such sonic or musical rocks are referred to as 'ringing rocks' or 'lithophones'.The Landscape & Perception project drew upon the comments of the early 'rock gong' pioneer, Bernard Fagg, a one-time curator of the Pitt Rivers Museum, in Oxford.
He suspected there were ringing rocks on or around Preseli and suggested that this was the reason why so many Neolithic monuments exist in the region – with the sounds making the landscape sacred to Stone Age people."

"English Heritage allowed archaeologists from Bournemouth and Bristol universities to acoustically test the bluestones at Stonehenge, effectively playing them like a huge xylophone.To the researchers’ surprise, several were found to make distinctive if muted sounds, with several of the rocks showing evidence of having already been struck.
The stones make different pitched noises in different places and different stones make different noises - ranging from a metallic to a wooden sound.
The investigators believe that this could have been the prime reason behind the otherwise inexplicable transport of these stones nearly 200 miles from Preseli to Salisbury Plain.
There were plentiful local rocks from which Stonehenge could have been built, yet the bluestones were considered special."
----------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------

Acoustic Archaeology is relatively new. The results may surprise, but all cultures make music, so maybe not truly surprising. For the most part, acoustic archaeology studies structures, such as megalithic chambers or the bluestones at Stonehenge, which have only recently been found to display acoustic properties. If you are conducting ceremonies deep within the earth or a stone chamber, being able to produce powerful sound effects can only enhance the experience. Musical instruments like drums will never preserve, bone flutes require good environmental conditions to survive; but stones do survive, and some musical stones may have been misidentified as pestles when they are really lithophones.

 

[Charl]

Gonthier, a former jeweller and stone-cutter, discovered their true, musical potential when he tapped one with a mallet in the storeroom of the museum in 1994.

I would like to see more scientific study to convince me though......lol.

He is right, however. they are lithophones. the proof is in the concert. lol...



And here is Gonthier himself, demonstrating with Saharan lithophones from the French museum. Sure look like roller pestles, no? He's an ethnomineralologist at present. You will have to click on "Watch on YouTube" to see it....



Check your cylindrical pestles, people If they were used as cylindrical or roller pestles, but show no pestle usage wear.....

 

[1320]

Makes complete sense to me. Add in the matching traits and the theory becomes pretty convincing. Makes me wonder if at some point in time did Paleo and Archaic Native Americans make and use animal calls to lure in game. I have argued previously that game probably didn't fear man too much 10 to 12 thousand years ago and because of that, man could harvest animals relatively easy, eliminating the need for such technology. Good read, thanks for the links and discussion.