What is it about?
The idea that the locations of rock art from the palaeolithic is somehow related to the acoustic response was first suggested in the Eighties. Since then a growing number of publications have emerged which seem to support the idea. This paper presents a complete study of the acoustic response at more than 100 measured positions within caves in Northern Spain, where a wealth of rock art dating as far back as 41000 before present can be found.
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Why is it important?
This paper is the first one to present a systematic and significant collection of acoustic responses within caves and apply robust statistical analysis of the correlation between location of rock art and the acoustic response at that location. Small correlations between resonance and moderate reverberation have been established from the data.
Perspectives
The results obtained are discussed in light of other aspects that might affect the location of rock art. It is concluded that, although a small correlation has been found, it would be premature to claim that a causal association between acoustic response and rock art location has been established and that further studies are required. The important contribution of this work lies not only on the results themselves but also puts forward a methodological approach that may be used in other studies postulating the same hypotheses.
Dr Bruno Fazenda
University of Salford
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Cave acoustics in prehistory: Exploring the association of Palaeolithic visual motifs and acoustic response, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, September 2017, Acoustical Society of America (ASA),
DOI: 10.1121/1.4998721.
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