Fritz C, Tosello G, Fleury G, Kasarhérou E, Walter Ph, Duranthon F, Gaillard P, Tardieu J
Université de Toulouse, CNRS, CREAP - E. Cartailhac, Maison des Sciences de l'Homme de Toulouse, TRACES, Toulouse, France.
Université de Toulouse, CNRS, CREAP - E. Cartailhac, Maison des Sciences de l'Homme de Toulouse, Toulouse, France.
Sci Adv. 2021 Feb 10;7(7). doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abe9510. Print 2021 Feb.
Anthropologists and ethnomusicologists assert that there is no society without song, and more specifically, there is no ritual or celebration without accompanying sound. The production of sounds in social contexts is very ancient. Here, we report on the study of a seashell from the decorated cave of Marsoulas and demonstrate that the Magdalenian occupants of this site transformed this shell into a wind instrument. It is one of the very rare examples, if not the only one for the Paleolithic period, of a musical instrument fashioned from a large shell, and the first conch shell of this use thus far discovered. We already know that prehistoric people transformed many shells into portable ornaments and that they thus attributed substantial corporal symbolism to them. This seashell horn, with its unique sonority, both deep and strong with an enduring reverberation, sheds light on a musical dimension until now unknown in the context of Upper Paleolithic societies.
人类学家和民族音乐学家断言，没有哪个社会不存在歌曲，更确切地说，没有哪种仪式或庆典没有伴随的声音。在社会背景下声音的产生非常古老。在此，我们报告了对来自马尔苏拉装饰洞穴的一枚贝壳的研究，并证明该遗址的马格德林时期居住者将这枚贝壳改造成了一件管乐器。这是旧石器时代由大型贝壳制成的乐器中极为罕见的例子之一，如果不是唯一的例子的话，也是迄今为止发现的第一件用于此用途的海螺壳。我们已经知道，史前人类将许多贝壳改造成了便于携带的装饰品，因此他们赋予了贝壳大量的身体象征意义。这只贝壳号角有着独特的音质，深沉而有力，余音悠长，可以让我们了解到旧石器时代晚期社会中迄今未知的音乐维度。
