Engraved art and acoustic resonance: exploring ritual and sound in north-western South Africa

Rifkin, Riaan F.

doi:10.1017/s0003598x00098859

Cited by 24 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…12i) were not observed on any of the experimental specimens. The first interpretation is based on an observation of the processes responsible for the formation of similar pit-like structures when representational images are engraved (pecked) into hard dolerites and quartzites (Rifkin, 2009). The second draws from the study by Hodgskiss (2010, p. 8) and the results obtained for trampling experiments.…”

Section: Archaeological Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Processing ochre in the Middle Stone Age: Testing the inference of prehistoric behaviours from actualistically derived experimental data

Rifkin

2012

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

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Section: Archaeological Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Processing ochre in the Middle Stone Age: Testing the inference of prehistoric behaviours from actualistically derived experimental data

Rifkin

2012

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

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“…Archaeological studies of sound transference are increasingly important as a means to unravel spatial functions, types of interaction, social control, and the role sound played in past societies (e.g. Watson & Keating 1999;Aaron 2001;Watson 2001;Moore 2005;Boivin et al 2007;Abel et al 2008;Rifkin 2009). In this article, we take an archaeo-acoustic, performance-based approach to understand social organisation at the Early Horizon urban centre of Caylán (800-1 BC), on the north-central coast of Peru.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soundscapes and community organisation in ancient Peru: plaza architecture at the Early Horizon centre of Caylán

Helmer¹,

Chicoine²

2013

Antiquity

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The thriving study of acoustic archaeology is here applied to an excavated plaza site in Peru, where the authors show that an intimate sound-space was intended, one which featured panpipe music as well as the spoken word. Their method involved the measurement of three sound levels of speech at various distances from the plaza, giving us an easy-to-use mode of on-site investigation, which will surely win wide application. The study also showed a dramatic change from the use of acoustics in a previous period, where sound was canalised in U-shaped temples in order to address large numbers of people.

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“…Steven Waller found over 300 rock-art sites worldwide, many open-air, featuring what he calls reflection and unusual acoustic properties (Waller 1994(Waller , 2002(Waller , 2006(Waller , 2012. Examples of similar studies include those carried out inside Parpalló cave in southern Spain by Jimenes Gonzales and colleagues (Jimenes Gonzales et al 2008;Picó et al 2006) and in the open air by Boivin (2004) at Kupgal, South India, Rifkin (2009) in the Kokannaberg Mountains in South Africa, and, more recently, Diaz-Andreu and García Benito (2012) in the Valtorta Gorge in the Levant area of Spain.…”

Section: Mila Simões De Abreumentioning

confidence: 85%

The Acoustic and Auditory Contexts of Human Behavior

Blake¹,

Cross²

2015

Current Anthropology

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Sound is a crucial component of the human communicative toolkit; however, as a topic of research, it has been relatively neglected in archaeological method and theory. We propose that a framework requires to be developed in which inferences can be made about the significance of sound in the past that are not bounded by the particularities of current cultural contexts. Such a framework should be multidisciplinary and draw on what is known scientifically about human sensitivities to and uses of sound, including nonverbal vocalizations, speech and music, ethological studies that offer insight into how sound perception and environment affect sociality and survival, and the effects of environment on socially significant human sound. Human sociality involves complex and dynamic relationships with sound. Not only does sound provide information about the environments in which people live (Truax 1999), but its construction, perception, and socially ascribed meanings influence how people interact with each other (Cross and Woodruff 2009). Both intentional and unintentional sounds affect how people engage with, transform, and create environments or places. This is true for communicating through spoken language, dancing, music-making, and signaling, in addition to the everyday sounds of preparing and eating food, creating tools, and moving through spaces. The social values that are ascribed to sound involve intricate and diverse worldviews that are integral to modern-day societies (Atkinson 2007) and were undoubtedly significant in prehistoric and evolutionary time frames (

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Engraved art and acoustic resonance: exploring ritual and sound in north-western South Africa

Abstract: At a hill-top site in the Korrannaberg, where there is a water source and a sandy arena embraced by a rocky ridge, the author persuasively evokes a lively prehistoric ritual centre, with rock gongs, reverberating echoes, dancing and trance.

Cited by 24 publications

References 37 publications

Processing ochre in the Middle Stone Age: Testing the inference of prehistoric behaviours from actualistically derived experimental data

Processing ochre in the Middle Stone Age: Testing the inference of prehistoric behaviours from actualistically derived experimental data

Soundscapes and community organisation in ancient Peru: plaza architecture at the Early Horizon centre of Caylán

The Acoustic and Auditory Contexts of Human Behavior

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