Cave acoustics in prehistory: Exploring the association of Palaeolithic visual motifs and acoustic response

TY - JOUR

T1 - Cave acoustics in prehistory

T2 - Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

AU - Fazenda, Bruno

AU - Scarre, Chris

AU - Till, Rupert

AU - Pasalodos, Raquel Jimenez

AU - Rojo Guerra, Manuel

AU - Tejedor, Cristina

AU - Ontanon Peredo, Roberto

AU - Watson, Aaron

AU - Wyatt, Simon

AU - García Benito, Carlos

AU - Drinkall, Helen

AU - Foulds, Frederik

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - During the 1980s, acoustic studies of Upper Palaeolithic imagery in French caves—using the technology then available—suggested a relationship between acoustic response and the location of visual motifs. This paper presents an investigation, using modern acoustic measurement techniques, into such relationships within the caves of La Garma, Las Chimeneas, La Pasiega, El Castillo, and Tito Bustillo in Northern Spain. It addresses methodological issues concerning acoustic measurement at enclosed archaeological sites and outlines a general framework for extraction of acoustic features that may be used to support archaeological hypotheses. The analysis explores possible associations between the position of visual motifs (which may be up to 40 000 yrs old) and localized acoustic responses. Results suggest that motifs, in general, and lines and dots, in particular, are statistically more likely to be found in places where reverberation is moderate and where the low frequency acoustic response has evidence of resonant behavior. The work presented suggests that an association of the location of Palaeolithic motifs with acoustic features is a statistically weak but tenable hypothesis, and that an appreciation of sound could have influenced behavior among Palaeolithic societies of this region.

AB - During the 1980s, acoustic studies of Upper Palaeolithic imagery in French caves—using the technology then available—suggested a relationship between acoustic response and the location of visual motifs. This paper presents an investigation, using modern acoustic measurement techniques, into such relationships within the caves of La Garma, Las Chimeneas, La Pasiega, El Castillo, and Tito Bustillo in Northern Spain. It addresses methodological issues concerning acoustic measurement at enclosed archaeological sites and outlines a general framework for extraction of acoustic features that may be used to support archaeological hypotheses. The analysis explores possible associations between the position of visual motifs (which may be up to 40 000 yrs old) and localized acoustic responses. Results suggest that motifs, in general, and lines and dots, in particular, are statistically more likely to be found in places where reverberation is moderate and where the low frequency acoustic response has evidence of resonant behavior. The work presented suggests that an association of the location of Palaeolithic motifs with acoustic features is a statistically weak but tenable hypothesis, and that an appreciation of sound could have influenced behavior among Palaeolithic societies of this region.

KW - Acoustics

KW - Sound source perception

KW - Statistical mechanics models

KW - Signal processing

KW - Larynx function

UR - http://asa.scitation.org/toc/jas/142/3?expanded=142

U2 - 10.1121/1.4998721

DO - 10.1121/1.4998721

M3 - Article

VL - 142

SP - 1332

EP - 1349

JO - Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

JF - Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

SN - 0001-4966

IS - 3

ER -