A 17,000-year-old conch shell, forgotten in a museum collection for more than 80 years, has been found to be the oldest wind instrument of its kind, with researchers discovering that it was played by its prehistoric owners. Horns.
First entered in a very richly decorated cave of Piranis in 1931, the large shell was initially overlooked by archaeologists who believed it to be a sectarian “loving cup” used by Paleolithic people, whose walls adorn the art space.
But, a recent re-examination of the conch during a recent search at the Musમm de Toulouse in the south of France revealed that experts believe it was carefully drilled and shaped by holding what was now a mouth.
Significantly, a skilled horn player, introduced by a multi-disciplinary team of French scientists, was able to produce three clear notes sharply C, D and C from the artifact, giving its original owners a clue as to how it sounded.
The conch, which the team discovered, was equipped with red pigment marks, such as fingerprint architects, on the walls of the cave in its inner vortex. “We believe the shell was decorated with the same pattern used in the cave art of Marsoulas, which establishes a strong link between the music played. [by] “Images on conch shells and walls,” said Giles Tosello, an archaeologist and cave art expert who is part of the investigation team.
“That is the first time we can see, to the best of our knowledge [evidence of] Such a relationship between music and cave art in European prehistory. “
Societies from Oceania to Europe, from India to Japan, have known the conch shell as a musical instrument, an instrument, or a sacred object. But while the bone flute was used 1,000, 000 years ago, Tosello said, there is no known example of a conch instrument from such an early period.
The carbon dating of the Marsaulus conch, named after it was found near Toulouse, established that it is about 17,000 years old, when Magdalenian hunter-gatherers hunted bison and deer at the end of the last ice age.
The title of the shell is intentionally removed, creating a circular hole through which a narrow rod was inserted to drill a hole, which scientists described as a “really complex technical operation”. Shell’s outer lip was also trimmed, possibly to insert a player’s hand to modulate the sound.
Traces of brown organic matter were also found around the top hole, which researchers believe is a form of cow used to attach mompies.
The shell itself, which is 31 cm. Long, belonging to the Atlantic mollusk species, called Charonia lamps, which, though rare, can be found in the Bay of Biscay. Carol Fritz, a leading archaeologist at the University of Toulouse, said the Magdalenians were known for their ties to the Atlantic coast and the region of Cantabria in northern Spain.
The team hopes to need to experiment with playing conch in the cave where it will be sounded first, which Tosello said would be a “moment of great emotion.”
The research is published in the journal Science Advances.
