Archaeoacoustic Analysis of Tarxien Temples in Malta

Abstract

The Tarxien Temples in Malta were analysed from an archaeoacoustic point of view. As there is no roof present, it was not possible to find the resonance properties of the various chambers. This investigation however, discovered an interesting low vibration originating from below the ground. The most likely explanation of its origin is due to the movement of underground water through geological faults. This vibration appears to be transmitted through the megaliths, some of which have concavities or carved holes. Previous archaeological interpretation, has suggested these were likely to have been used to support the foundations of some sort of barrier or door, but without any supporting evidence. Using archaeoacoustic methods a new interpretation of these architectonic particularities is put forward, acting as some type of forerunner to speakers..

Archaeoacoustic Analysis of Xaghra Hypogeum, Gozo, Malta

“…SBRG found simlar low frequencies at Tarxien Temple, Malta and the temple of Cybele at the archaeological site of Felix Romuliana, Serbia (Debertolis & Zivić, 2015). One plausable theory as to their origin is due to the frictional movement between the African and Eurasian tectonic plates located close to the archipelago of Malta (Serpelloni et al, 2007) discussed in a previous paper on Malta temples (Debertolis, Earl & Zivić, 2016). If the hypogeum or stone circle was covered at any time, such a structure would have acted to intensify any natural frequencies present, in a similar way to how a sound box of a musical instrument works.…”

“…In light of this, is possible to hypothesize that ancient populations considered places where a lot of natural low vibrations are present, to be "sacred" ) and used to enhance ancient rites and rituals (Debertolis et al, 2012. Archaeoacoustical analysis provides a method to demonstrate knowledge of acoustic phenomena in the past, a technique undertaken at the compound of Ggantija, Malta (Debertolis, Coimbra & Eneix, 2015;Debertolis, Earl & Zivić, 2016). This formed part of a wider study at some of Malta's Neolithic temples, where good results were also obtained at the Xaghra Stone Circle on Gozo.…”

Archaeoacoustic research in the ancient castle of Gropparello in Italy

“…It is a new perspective to analyse archaeological sites which sometimes have interesting sound characteristics [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16] . It may also help to explain why ancient structures were built or carved into the rock.…”

“…Starting from the premise that past ages were not devoid of noise or spent in silence, we know the human voice used in songs along with the vibrations produced by the musical instruments remained the highest expression of culture for a long period. Natural sound phenomena were used in several civilizations to create impressive rites, with some ancient structures modeled in a certain way to directly influence the mind through the vibrations they produced towards a particular state of consciousness [5,9,10] .…”

“…In previous researches, SBRG * demonstrated the existence of a relationship between mechanical vibrations from resonance phenomenon at some Neolithic temples and brain activity [5,6,9,10,11,12,14,15,16] . This point of view of ancient sites has had more expansion in the nineties and our research group has * Note.…”