Chapter 1
Exploring ancient sounds and places: 
The challenges of hearing intangible  
heritage in the past
Margarita Díaz-Andreu and Neemias Santos da Rosa
Abstract
This introductory chapter explores the diverse ways in which sound can be integrated 
into archaeology. Three major perspectives are presented: the first focuses on objects 
that produce sound, including musical instruments, sound-producing objects, and 
geophonies in natural soundscapes. The second block examines the contexts in which 
sound is transmitted and heard, such as enclosed or semi-enclosed spaces, urban 
environments, and landscapes. The final section investigates the functions and uses 
of sound. Examples of all three ways of studying sound in archaeology are found 
in the chapters of this book. This interdisciplinary volume presents a collection of 
essays that illuminate the sonorous dimensions of the past, highlighting how sound 
has influenced cognitive, cultural and spiritual aspects of human societies across 
different periods and locations. A general overview of the book is provided in the 
last section of the chapter. 
Keywords: archaeoacoustics, music archaeology, soundscapes, urbanscapes, 
room acoustics
Since the 1980s, scholars in the humanities have been increasingly drawn to sensory 
research (Howes 1991; Rodaway 1994; Feld 2012), a leaning that, albeit with some delay, 
has also included archaeologists (Gosden and Hather 1999; Ouzman 2001). However, 
in contrast to senses such as taste or touch, and, perhaps because of its role as the 
most important sense after vision, at least in the Western World (Classen 1993, 2), 
hearing – and sound in general – had already attracted scholarly attention from 
early on. This was already the case with musical instruments from the 18th century 
Margarita Díaz-Andreu and Neemias Santos da Rosa2
(Smith 1750; B.B. 1763). However, from the 1960s an interest also emerged in how sound 
was propagated at archaeological sites and the effect that sound events may have had 
on past communities. The latter developments, however, were largely unknown to 
the archaeological profession, given that behind them there were architects (Canac 
1967; Shankland 1973; Lehmann 1983), historians (Giedion 1962) and historians of art 
(Reznikoff 1981; 1987), who only very occasionally collaborated with archaeologists 
(Reznikoff and Dauvois 1988; Dauvois 1989; Dauvois and Boutillon 1990). 
Therefore, for most of the history of archaeology the past was largely imagined as 
being voiceless. This silence was contrary to the experience of past people: sound is 
an essential source of knowledge about our surroundings and constitutes the basis of 
communication with others (see Brabec in this volume). It may also have advantages 
over sight on particular occasions; for example, when visibility is impossible because 
of darkness or dense vegetation, or when the emitter is at a distance beyond sight 
recognition (Letowski and Letowski 2012). Sound is also employed to convey emotion 
and feelings (Blood and Zatorre 2001; Juslin and Västfjäll 2008) and group cohesion 
(Morley 2013, 280–283). It may elicit stress, annoyance or therapeutic effects (Bruscia 
2014; Stanhope and Weinstein 2020) and is used to express identity (Connell and 
Gibson 2002; Stocker 2013). 
Ethnomusicology and ethnohistorical sources can assist archaeologists in 
establishing questions (Arsenault and Zawadzka 2014; Liwosz 2017; Díaz-Andreu 
et al. 2021, 170; and see Alarcón-Jiménez et al. in this volume and Díaz-Andreu et al. 
in this volume). However, the closer these sources are to the particular period under 
study, the better. As Blake and Cross mention when discussing music, “With regard to 
ethnographic analogies to prehistoric populations, care should be taken in presuming, 
or ascribing, apparent similarities in ‘musical’ behaviours of hunter-gatherer societies 
from very different temporal and geographic proveniences” (Blake and Cross 2008, 15). 
As this book reveals, there are many ways in which sound can be introduced into 
archaeology. In the following pages, an overview is provided of this kaleidoscopic field 
by subdividing the research undertaken into three major blocks. The first focuses on 
the objects that produce the sound (musical instruments, sound-producing objects or 
geophony in a soundscape). The second major block centres on the type of context 
in which sound is transmitted and heard (an enclosed or a semi-enclosed space, 
urbanscapes and sound in the landscape). The final section looks at the research 
undertaken into some of the functions and uses encompassed by sound.
Producing sound
If the focus is placed on the origin of sound, four main themes can be identified: musical 
instruments; other sound-producing devices; sounds produced as a result of human 
actions whose purpose is not related to this result; and finally, the sound produced in 
the landscape. Regarding the first, it would be impossible to provide a good, rounded 
summary of the research into the music and musical instruments of the past, given that 
31. Exploring ancient sounds and places
there is a staggering bibliography containing general approaches to this (Hickmann 
2001; Both 2009). Archaeomusicologists work with “musical instruments or parts of 
instruments; scenes of music-making in cave paintings [i.e. rock art], reliefs, frescoes 
and mosaics; more rarely, written sources such as inscriptions or descriptions of music; 
and, even more rarely, specimens of musical notation” (Hickmann 2001). In addition 
to archaeological evidence, archaeomusicologists can make use of historical accounts 
and iconography (see Đorđević and Knighton in this volume). Myths and legends, oral 
tradition and ethnography may also provide useful information (Hickmann 2001; see 
Díaz-Andreu et al. in this volume). It is important to take into account the fact that 
musical taste is cultural and, therefore, as Scullin and Boyd argue for the case of the 
Moche ceramic whistles, “sounds which often appear harsh and unwanted to modern 
ears (and bodies) – sounds routinely categorized as noise – may not have been viewed 
as unwanted sound/noise in certain past contexts” (Scullin and Boyd 2014, 362). In the 
last few decades, most research on musical instruments has been led by members of 
the International Council of Traditional Music (ICTM), with sessions organised on an 
irregular basis, and also the International Study Group on Music Archaeology (ISGMA), 
in that case gathering every two years. The proceedings of both these meetings have 
been compiled in many volumes (e.g. Lund 1986; Hickmann and Eichmann 2000; 
Hickmann et al. 2006; Jiménez Pasalodos et al. 2013; Homo-Lechner 2015; Kolltveit and 
Rainio 2020). There was once also a journal, Music Archaeological Bulletin (1984–1986), 
followed by Archaeologia Musicalis (1987–1990) and now the book series Flower World 
published by the Ekho publishing house, in addition to other books. 
Topics under discussion in music archaeology are manifold and here only a couple 
will be mentioned. The most popular is typology and cultural classification in the 
whole spectrum of human evolution, from the earliest periods (Cross 2016; Montagu 
2017), and see Brabec in this volume) to the Palaeolithic (Morley 2013; and see Wyatt 
this volume) and modern times (Neuenfeldt 2020). In some cases musical instruments 
may be created out of geological forms, such as lithophones and rock gongs, i.e. rocks 
that sound when struck (Fagg 1997; and see Jiménez Pasalodos et al. in this volume and 
Martorano in this volume). Performance practices are also the focus of some research 
projects (García Ventura et al. 2018). Experimental archaeology has also been useful 
in the reconstruction of musical instruments (for example García-Benito et al. 2018; 
Pomberger et al. 2018; Kumbani 2023; and see also chapters by Martorano and Rusch 
in this volume). A final topic relates to outreach, museums and the public (Both 2019; 
Milosavljevic 2020). It may be worth mentioning that the number of publications 
included in this paragraph could be multiplied many times. 
In an often-referred-to article, Casja Lund distinguished between five classes 
of sound objects. The first is those artefacts that were distinctly used as sound-
producing devices. In this type, she includes musical instruments (see above) and 
others that might (also) be used for communication, such as bells. They fulfil both 
roles, music and communication, depending on their size and location. A small bell, 
for example, is a multifunctional sound object that may perform many purposes: 
Margarita Díaz-Andreu and Neemias Santos da Rosa4
it can be a signal/noise instrument, an acoustic offensive weapon, a prestige object, 
a status object and an apotropaic protective shield (Pomberger et al. 2023, fig. 10). 
Large bells, as well as other large percussion instruments such as semantra, are mostly 
used in religious buildings like churches. Their main role is to act as religious sound 
markers and to communicate religious or civil messages to audiences some distance 
away (Djordevic et al. 2023). 
Lund (1981) also mentions items that may have served more than one purpose. 
These include sound-producing ornaments such as teeth, molluscs or small stones 
attached to garments or as accessories and as portable pendants found, for instance, 
in burials in Northern Europe (Russia and Sweden) dated to the Late Mesolithic and 
the Neolithic. The study of their wear patterns through traceology allowed Riitta 
Rainio to argue that they acted as rattles. These pendants created sound when the 
wearer moved, perhaps to reinforce the effect of dancing (Rainio et al. 2021). 
Some objects were not musical instruments per se, but the sound they produced 
generated sensorial experiences (the fourth type in Lund’s 1981 typology). In 
addition to the silver bracelet from Hammarlöv (Sweden) she mentioned, we can 
illustrate this with the jangling rings for chariot axles found in the Netherlands. 
These were included by Joan Rimmer in her review of musical instruments and 
soundmakers from the Netherlands between the Iron Age and the medieval 
period (Rimmer 1981). Finally, some objects were clearly sound-producing devices 
with functions other than music, such as decoys for hunting (Lund et al. 2015; 
García-Benito et al. 2018).
A sixth category in Casja Lund’s scheme could have been the sound derived as a 
by-product of producing or handling objects. There have been some studies of this, 
especially regarding the sound produced at the time of manufacture: pounding plants 
for food or drink, such as sakau or kava in the South Pacific (Rainbird 2002, 97), or in 
mortars at rock art sites such as Writing Rock (Devereux 2008, 22), lithics (Mills and 
Pannett 2009) and rock art (Lødøen 2015, 73–74; Vergara 2019). 
In some cases, it has been claimed that particular sonotopes, i.e. landscapes 
with particular acoustics, attracted the attention of those living in the area. We 
can illustrate this with scholarly work linking archaeology and underground noises 
originating either with fire or water. In the first case, volcanoes can be mentioned. 
There have been some studies into the relationship between them – and therefore 
their sound – and archaeological sites in Mesoamerica and Central America (Sheets 
2001; Holmberg 2013). Sounds sometimes originating in the subsoil may also have 
been perceived as magical and this may have been the case in Kinomagewapkong or 
Teaching Rocks in Petroglyphs Provincial Park near Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. 
In this place ‘the sound of underground water can be heard issuing from its depths. 
Witnesses describe the sound as similar to the babble of human voices” (Devereux 
2008, 27–28). In Scandinavia, it has also been suggested that the choice of sites at 
which to create rock art may have been linked to the sound of water in the area 
(Coles 1991, 133; Goldhahn 2002; Lødøen 2010, 45–46). 
51. Exploring ancient sounds and places
The acoustic effects of sound propagation at archaeological sites
An alternative way of exploring ancient sounds and places is to look not at the sound 
source, as in the previous section, but at the space in which the sound is propagated. 
Four types of approach can be highlighted: the acoustics of enclosed and semi-enclosed 
spaces, urbanscapes and sounds in the landscape. The way in which sound performs 
in enclosed spaces has been one of the major topics of study among architects and 
acoustic engineers for the last two and a half centuries (Mills 2016, appendix 4), 
although it is only since the 1960s that this interest has been reflected in the study 
of ancient buildings. In the last few years special attention has been paid to caves in 
areas and periods as diverse as the European Palaeolithic (Fazenda et al. 2017; Jouteau 
2021, 384), the Mesopotamian (McMahon 2013) and Greek eras (Yioutsos et al. 2018) 
and Mayan caves (Bruchez 2007). In addition to caves, megaliths and hypogea can be 
added to the types of sites. The acoustic analysis of megalithic sites in Britain and 
France has highlighted their good reverberant properties, especially in relation to low 
voices (Devereux and Jahn 1996; Manaud and Watson and Keating 2000; Barrandon 
2014). Regarding hypogea, their plans are more regular than caves, as are perhaps 
megaliths, but still less so than built environments. One of those that has attracted 
more attention is the Hal-Saflieni Hypogeum in Malta dated to the 3rd millennium 
BCE (Till 2017)
In contrast to the above, most scholarly attention has focused on built 
environments. In addition to acoustic testing in situ, the regularity of spaces has 
also allowed an alternative method of analysis: the reconstruction of acoustics using 
computational modelling techniques and dynamical estimations. In other cases, the 
approach is based on the information from ancient texts that are read through the 
lens of the archaeological remains. Research has focused on prehistoric sites such as 
Neolithic structures for group gatherings located in the area of southern Anatolia 
and Syria (McBride 2014), or ancient buildings such as Egyptian temples (Warusfel 
and Emerit 2021), Greek temples and halls (Vassilantonopoulos and Mourjopoulos 
2001) and pre-Columbian palaces in the Andean area (Rick 2008; Collecchia et al. 
2012). Studies of the acoustics of enclosed spaces in the medieval and postmedieval 
periods have been undertaken at a number of religious sites, including Christian 
churches (Girón et al. 2017; Djordevic et al. 2020; Adeeb and Sü Gül 2022), mosques 
and Buddhist temples (Gül 2019; Gupta 2021; Zhang et al. 2024). The different faith 
traditions within the Christian church and the changes in liturgy practices throughout 
the centuries have led to a series of studies including the acoustic analysis of Hagia 
Sophia in Constantinople (Abel et al. 2013) and eight relatively well-preserved 
Byzantine churches in Thessaloniki (Antonopoulos et al. 2017; Foteinou et al. 2023). 
There have also been studies of meeting rooms (Alvarez-Morales et al. 2020). In some 
cases, the acoustic reconstruction of historical spaces is allowing the general public 
to experience the lost acoustics of past buildings, such as the damaged cathedral of 
Notre Dame in Paris (Katz et al. 2020).
Margarita Díaz-Andreu and Neemias Santos da Rosa6
The earliest acoustic analyses undertaken of archaeological buildings did not focus 
on enclosed spaces, but on architectural structures that are not fully covered by a 
roof, such as Roman theatres (for a summary see Girón et al. 2020). In Europe there 
have been other studies dealing with the prehistoric period with positive results at 
sites such as Stonehenge (Till 2009). Moreover, many prehistoric rock art sites are 
located in concave shelters whose acoustics have also attracted scholarly attention 
(Rainio et al. 2018; Alvarez-Morales et al. 2023; Santos da Rosa et al. 2023). Other studies 
have dealt with the medieval (Bertoldi et al. 2022) and modern periods (Boren 2022), 
including the sound of courtyards and gardens (Almagro-Pastor et al. 2022). Across 
the Atlantic, interaudibility has been demonstrated between various locations in the 
central area of Pueblo Bonito at Chaco Canyon in the United States (Loose 2008), as 
well as the role at the same site that a platform mound may have played as a speech 
podium or performance space, for example, to play a sound object such as a conch 
shell trumpet (Witt and Primeau 2019). In another research project undertaken in 
Mexico, acoustic tests were made at a sunken patio on the site of Peralta and a great 
stone bell outside it (Ramos-Amezquita 2014). 
In addition to the acoustic analysis of enclosed and semi-enclosed spaces, a 
different set of studies could be subdivided into those focused on urban and non-
urban areas. In relation to the former, urban soundscapes have been researched on 
the basis of written documentation (e.g. Terpstra and Rose 2016; and Knighton in this 
volume) and archaeological information. Regarding the latter, acoustic analyses have 
been carried out in particular built spaces, including the Maya ritual centre of Chichen 
Itza, specifically focusing on the acoustic phenomenon of the chirped echo created 
by short percussive sounds such as handclaps at the pyramid of Kukulkan (Lubman 
1998; 2008). There has also been research into the acoustic raindrop effect at the same 
place (Cruz Calleja and Declercq 2009). Furthermore, sound (together with vision and 
movement) has been simulated at the Maya site of Copán (Honduras), generating 
viewsheds and soundsheds from Stela 12 (Richards-Rissetto et al. 2023). At the Inca 
site of Las Pailas (Argentina) (Izaguirre and Ferrari 2018) the authors mentioned 
that one of the weaknesses of their simulation was that they had not considered the 
noise caused by people moving in the space, which may have deeply affected sound 
dispersion. This has been the precise focus of a series of studies contextualised in 
the Roman (Holter, Muth, and Schwesinger 2019; Kopij et al. 2023) and post-medieval 
periods (Boren in this volume). Regarding the latter, in this volume Braxton Boren has 
analysed whether the written sources were correct in the number of people and the 
space of a particular audience listening to a speech given by 18th-century preacher 
George Whitefield (Boren in this volume). In a different vein, Stephen Mileson has 
examined the connection between power and sound and the role of the latter in 
creating and maintaining a feeling of attachment to a village, speaking of the role of 
bells and other sound tools and sounds (Mileson 2018).
Finally, in non-urban areas it is useful to think about three types of sonotopes: 
geophonies (natural sounds produced nonbiologically), biophonies (biologically 
71. Exploring ancient sounds and places
produced natural sounds) and anthrophonies (sounds produced by humans) (Farina 
2014, 17). The last of these was discussed in the section above relating to the production 
of sound. Regarding biophonies, the location of Greek temples such as that dedicated 
to Hera in Poseidonia in an area of lush vegetation has been linked with sound and 
nature, given the goddess’ role as a patroness of nature (Bellia 2023). The importance 
of daily sounds has also been proposed in a variety of prehistoric areas such as the 
Teleorman River Valley (Romania), Çatalhöyük (Turkey) and West Penwith (England) 
(Mills 2016), as well as in Mesoamerican Oaxaca (King and Sánchez Santiago 2011). 
The sound of volcanoes and water would have created geophonies (see the section 
on producing sound above).
Sound waves hitting rock surfaces created acoustic effects that might have 
impacted the way people perceived the landscapes in which the sound was propagated. 
The following will be discussed in relation to this: music and speech clarity, echoes, 
resonance, augmented audibility and reverberation. Music and speech clarity have 
been proposed as acoustic properties that fit well with the likely social and ritual 
activities taking place at Altai rock art sites (Díaz-Andreu et al. 2023). Echoes seem to 
have influenced the selection of rock art sites in particular areas of the world, including 
Spain (Díaz-Andreu and García Benito 2012), Finland (Reznikoff 1995, 551–554; Lahelma 
2010, 48; Rainio et al. 2018) and North America (Waller 2005; Waller and Arsenault 
2008). In turn, resonance has been linked to the presence of rock art, for example at 
the Herschel petroglyph site in Saskatchewan, Canada (Steinbring 1992; 1993). Finally, 
augmented audibility, the perception of sound amplified above the expected level, 
seems to have been behind the selection of sites in the Sierra de San Serván (Spain) 
(Mattioli and Díaz-Andreu 2017).
Reverberant landscapes have also been discussed by scholars as having been 
especially chosen for rock art production. This is illustrated in the case of Didima, 
where the impressive reverberation leads Mazel to see this as the reason for the 
high number of rock art sites in the valley (Mazel 2011, 291). A similar relationship 
has been ascertained thanks to some basic acoustic tests in some areas of Spain 
(Díaz-Andreu and García Benito 2015). Moreover, at Writing Rock in North Dakota, 
it has also been argued that the exceptional acoustics of the natural amphitheatre 
in which the site is located would have enabled the sound of a ringing stone 
to reverberate along the valley (Devereux 2008, 26). Reverberation and sound 
amplification are two connected but distinct phenomena. Devereux also tells us that 
“in one experiment, five drums were beaten within the rock-shelter by American 
Indian musicians and the sound produced was broadcast so effectively that traffic 
stopped on a highway several kilometers distant as drivers got out of their vehicles 
to investigate the source of the sound” (Devereux 2008, 22). Sound propagation 
is mentioned by Deveraux regarding the White Shaman rock shelter in Lower 
Pecos, Texas, where conversations at the site may be understood by someone on 
the opposite side of the canyon. At Wikwip (Echo Rock) in San Diego County, it is 
possible to hear a conversation held at the site from a distance of some 100 m. Finally, 
Margarita Díaz-Andreu and Neemias Santos da Rosa8
at the Canebrake Wash site, the sound of someone talking in front of its paintings 
is broadcast across the landscape (Devereux 2008, 26–27). As seen above, in the last 
few years sound transmission has also been explored through GIS tools (Díaz-Andreu 
et al. 2017; Primeau and Witt 2017; Witt and Primeau 2019; García Atiénzar et al. 2022; 
Santos da Rosa et al. 2023; van Dyke et al. 2024). Some work has also been carried out 
on sound propagation in non-rock art prehistoric (Sciuchetti 2023) and medieval 
landscapes (Mlekuz 2004; Bertoldi et al. 2022)
Sound, emotion and the brain: the combination of archaeoacoustics 
with psychoacoustics and neuroacoustics
Since the 2000s there has been some research combining two disciplines that until 
then had ignored each other: psychology and archaeology. In the field regarding sound, 
one of the main challenges of the auditory system is making sense of the multitude 
of sound waves arriving simultaneously at our ears. This process is essential for clear 
auditory perception, such as identifying the elements of language in a conversation, 
the notes in a melody or interpreting a specific sound correctly. Psychoacoustics is 
the science of the hearing system as a receiver of acoustical information (Fastl and 
Zwicker 2007). It attempts to understand how humans perceive and are affected by 
elements of sound such as pitch, loudness, timbre and spatial location. 
Psychoacoustics has been the focus of one of the lines of research undertaken 
at the Andean Formative site of Chavín de Huántar (c. 1500–300 BCE). In one of the 
projects carried out at the site, the acoustic characteristics of an ancient mortared-
stone complex were analysed using a swept exponential sinusoidal test signal emitted 
at a height corresponding to that of the average human head at the time. Recordings 
were taken at two sets of receiver locations to determine reverberation time (RT), 
echo density, interaural cross-correlation coefficients and lateral energy fraction 
(Abel et al. 2008). These measurements were then used to construct a computational 
acoustic model of the site’s interior architecture (Collecchia et al. 2012). Additionally, 
an on-site psychoacoustics experiment involved 45 volunteers who were tasked 
with locating sound sources within Chavín’s interior galleries. It was reported that 
“participant responses to systematic testing of sound source/receiver ‘perceiver’ 
location combinations demonstrated broad consensus regarding the perceptual 
effects of gallery acoustics on sound transmission, providing verifiable ‘mappings’ of 
sonic communication dynamics within those spaces” (Kolar 2017, 49). Subsequently, 
the same researchers developed an archaeoacoustics method, comparing human-
performed sound sources and standard electronic acoustical test signals across 
various survey points at the Inca administrative complex of Huánuco Pampa. By 
integrating ecologically valid acoustic measurements with subjective observations, 
they mapped sound transmission and reception for different types of sounds, 
identified environmental influences, and evaluated the site’s acoustic properties 
(Kolar et al. 2018).
91. Exploring ancient sounds and places
A different project involving psychoacoustics was undertaken at the Greek 
sanctuary of Mount Lykaion, Zeus’ birthplace. There, Pamela Jordan speaks of 
soundlines, places that have a sonic connection between them (Jordan 2020, 13), 
denoting that people could indeed feel such a connection. Fieldwork was conducted 
at the site to ascertain whether the visual connection between the starting blocks of 
the Lower Sanctuary and a hill could be matched by a sonic link. Although the results 
were unclear, the author argued that this type of research “helps to reposition sonic 
experience as a driver in archaeological work… it produces a new way of moving 
through the site, of reading meaning into sound that may have been consequential 
for the experience of ancient users” (Jordan 2020, 25). While Jordan’s experiments 
were conducted in situ, in other cases scholars make use of auralisations using several 
scales to rate perception and emotion (see López-Mochales and Escera in this volume). 
Through auralisations, a comparison was made between the sonic behaviour of sites 
with and without art in the area of the Caroig Massif in Valencia. The results from the 
analysis of the contingency tables determined that the differences in reverberation 
between the groups (slightly higher in the sites with rock art) were perceived by 
the individual participating in the experiment (López-Mochales et al. 2023b). In a 
different study, the contrasting morphology of the Diosa I and Horadada rock art 
caves was perceived by listeners (López-Mochales et al. 2023a). Other ways in which 
psychoacoustics and archaeology have been combined have led Valenzuela to propose 
the term psychoarchaeoacoustics (Valenzuela et al. 2020).
Beyond subjective perception, neuroacoustics investigates the cognitive effects 
of present-day sound and music by measuring brain activity in response to different 
auditory stimuli (see Aparicio-Terrés and Escera regarding ritualistic music in 
this volume). A few neuropsychological experiments related to sound have been 
undertaken in recent years (for example Devereux and Jahn 1996; Cook et al. 2008; 
Gaona et al. 2014), but this field is in need of further study. However, some of the 
results of research undertaken into subjects such as the relationship between music 
or speech and emotion (Huels et al. 2021; Janata and Parsons 2013; Loui et al. 2013; 
Koelsch 2014) can be applied to archaeological sites where it is known or suggested 
that music was played.
This volume
This volume presents a comprehensive collection of essays that explores the 
sonorous dimensions of the past through an interdisciplinary approach. Integrating 
archaeological insights with sound epistemology, this book’s contributions illuminate 
the ways in which sound has influenced and shaped the cognitive, cultural and 
spiritual facets of human societies across different periods and locations around the 
world. From the auditory enchantments of the natural world to the application of 
digital tools for reconstructing historical soundscapes, this compilation expands our 
understanding of sensory experiences in the past and underscores the importance 
Margarita Díaz-Andreu and Neemias Santos da Rosa10
of incorporating sound into archaeological research. Each chapter offers a detailed 
analysis of how people perceived and engaged with their sonic environments, 
establishing this volume as an essential resource for scholars and students at the 
crossroads of archaeology, anthropology and cognitive science.
In Chapter 2, Bernd Brabec explores the evolutionary aspects of sound, examining 
how the auditory experiences of early humans facilitated the development of speech 
and song and thus complex social structures. The author proposes that the “auditory 
enchantment” of the natural world was a crucial element in the cognitive evolution of 
Homo sapiens, aiding in the shift from basic communicative gestures to sophisticated 
symbolic communication. His work is followed by the contribution of Simon Wyatt 
(Chapter 3), who introduces the concept of “archoustemology” to study Upper 
Palaeolithic aerophones. Wyatt’s work highlights how these ancient instruments are 
not just artefacts but also representations of the profound acoustic knowledge of 
early humans. He bridges cultural, ecological and psychological dimensions to suggest 
that musical instruments were integral to the social and ritualistic dimensions of 
ancient societies. In a similar vein, Neil Rusch (Chapter 4) discusses how the concepts 
of re-enactment and actualisation in archaeology can shed light on the cognitive 
engagements and material interactions of past cultures with their sound-making tools. 
In this study, Rusch employs Material Engagement Theory to demonstrate how such 
engagements enhance our understanding of prehistoric societies’ interactions with 
their material world and the soundscapes in which they were immersed.
Chapters 5 and 6 delve into the cognitive dimension of auditory experiences. In 
this regard, Raquel Aparicio-Terrés and Carles Escera examine the effects of music in 
ritual contexts, linking historical practices with contemporary neuroscience research 
to explore the impact of sound on human behaviour. Subsequently, Samantha López-
Mochales joins Carles Escera to discuss the use of psychoacoustic methods in the 
analysis of archaeological soundscapes. Their focus on auralisation and its application 
in studying ancient environments highlights the innovative approaches being taken 
to preserve and understand the acoustic heritage of archaeological sites.
In Chapter 7, Ana-María Alarcón-Jiménez and colleagues use ethnohistorical 
sources to explore and interpret the acoustic environments of rock art sites in 
South-Central California (United States), offering a critical examination of how 
these data can enhance our understanding of past sound-worlds. This contribution 
also considers the challenges and biases inherent in interpreting such sources, 
highlighting the complexities of translating ethnohistorical information into 
meaningful archaeological interpretations. Similarly, Chapters 8, 9 and 10 present 
case studies that highlight the archaeological dimension of sound research. In the 
first, Marilyn Armagast Martorano expounds her work on portable lithophones from 
Colorado (United States), offering a new methodology for identifying and analysing 
these ancient musical instruments. In a different context, Raquel Jiménez Pasalodos 
and her team explore the archaeoacoustics of cup-marked sounding rocks found in 
the Gredos Mountains (Spain), discussing the cultural significance of these sonorous 
elements in past cultural contexts. In Chapter 10, Margarita Díaz-Andreu and her 
111. Exploring ancient sounds and places
colleagues explore the rock art soundscapes of the Karakol Valley in the Republic 
of Altai (Russia), an area associated with shamanic practices characterised by 
intense auditory experiences. In this study, the authors also analyse representations 
of shamans in rock art and delve into the complex relationship between sensory 
experiences and ritualistic practices.
Chapter 11 examines Zorana Đorđević’s research on how frescoes in medieval 
Serbian Orthodox churches enrich the auditory dimension of religious services. In 
her study, Đorđević identifies key elements of sound imagery, including musical 
instruments, musical gestures, voices inscribed on scrolls and in books, and celestial 
sounds depicted in Heavenly Liturgy, to address the link between the visual art and 
sonorous dimension of these sacred spaces. Chapter 12 presents Tess Knighton’s 
exploration of digital tools, including virtual reality and auralization, to reconstruct 
historical soundscapes. Her research illustrates how modern technology can integrate 
historical data with sensory anthropology, offering new perspectives on the auditory 
experiences of historical environments. Finally, in Chapter 13, Braxton Boren reviews 
the history of research on speech intelligibility and highlights the relevance of the 
lessons learned from an experiment conducted by Benjamin Franklin, whom the 
author refers to as the first archaeoacoustician.
Acknowledgements
This work is part of the Advanced ERC Artsoundscapes project (Grant Agreement No. 
787842, PI Margarita Díaz-Andreu, www.ub.edu/artsoundscapes) that has received 
funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s 
Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. The project has also funded the 
publication of this book.
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