Acoustics in Music Archaeology: Re-Sounding the Marsoulas Conch and Its Cave

Abstract

What can be learned from the sounding of a conch shell after it has been silent for 18,000 years? During the last ice age in what is now southern France, a person or people from the Magdalenian period (see bit.ly/3uCjlMc) procured a giant conch (Charonia lampas) (Figure 1) from the Atlantic Ocean and transported it more than 240 km (150 miles) to a narrow cave in the Pyrenean foothills (HauteGaronne, France). This elaborately decorated limestone cave, known as Marsoulas (Figure 2), extends from its small opening like a long narrow corridor with a triangular cross section, proportions distinct from the voluminous caves typically known for Upper Paleolithic art.