Recovering the intangible acoustic heritage of rock art sites: El Tajo de las Figuras as a case study

Abstract

Since the end of the 19th century, scholars have highlighted the importance of rock art as a priceless heritage that may provide clues about the cultural and spiritual practices of prehistoric societies. However, most studies developed so far have focused only on the materiality of such archaeological remains. In this sense, the ERC Artsoundscapes project –funded by the European Research Council (H2020 programme, Grant Number 787842)– aims at exploring the intangible dimension of rock art sites in relation to auditory experience. Through a multidisciplinary approach comprising archaeological research, ethnomusicology, impulse response measurements, psychoacoustic tests based on auralisations and neuropsicological tests, the project investigates the role of sound and emotion in relation to the sacred by recovering the acoustic heritage of rock art sites in several rock art landscapes of the world. In this paper, we present a case study centred on the El Tajo de las Figuras (Cádiz, Spain), one of the most remarkable rock art sites of the Iberian Peninsula. The results indicate the presence of reverberation, which is especially relevant when considering its small size and, that the site is partially open. This, along with the great strength values obtained, suggests that the shelter morphology could have contributed to creating an acoustic environment suitable for reproducing certain types of music and rhythms that prehistoric people might have used in ceremonies and rituals potentially developed in this decorated space.