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About 18,000 years ago, the Magdalenian occupants of the Marsoulas cave in present-day France transformed a predatory sea snail shell Charonia lampas in a wind instrument. A team of researchers in France has now released a recording of what the instrument would have looked like.
Reconstruction of the shell horn being played. In the background, a red dotted buffalo adorns the walls of the Marsoulas cave; similar patterns adorn the instrument. Image credit: Gilles Tosello.
The ancient shell horn was discovered in 1931 at the entrance to the Marsoulas cave, located in the foothills of the French Pyrenees.
Marsoulas was the first decorated cave to be discovered in this region in 1897 and has been studied from the end of the 19th century to the present day.
Although qualified as an “exceptional find”, the object has been described by archaeologists as having no trace of human intervention and has been interpreted as a “loving cup”.
Marine shell Charonia lampas from the Marsoulas cave, France: (A) side view; (B) front view and designation of anatomical areas; (C) remnants of red pigment retained on the columella; (D) tracing of red dots and lines visible in the enhanced photo; very similar red dots, produced with fingertips, are present on the walls of the cave; (E) set of red dots forming a silhouette of a bison (length – 1.1 m); (F) geometric sign formed by a double line of dots. Image Credit: Fritz et al., doi: 10.1126 / sciadv.abe9510.
But after examining the hull with advanced imaging techniques, Dr Carole Fritz of the University of Toulouse and her colleagues have revealed many clues to human modifications of it, which make it a possible musical instrument.
They determined that Magdalenian hunter-gatherers had carefully modified the shell to install a mouthpiece.
Ancient peoples also removed the outer edges of the shell labrum, the flared ridge that extends outward from the main shell opening, and adorned the exterior of the shell with ocher pigment patterns. -red that match the style of wall art found inside Marsoulas Cave.
“This is one of the very few, if not the only, examples from the Paleolithic period of a musical instrument made from a large shell, and the first conch shell of this use was discovered until present, ”the scientists said.
The Charonia, wind instrument: (A) sagittal section of the 3D model of the hull which allows to visualize the hole drilled at the level of the sixth arrow (after opening the apex), probably to introduce a tube to facilitate the setting place of a mouthpiece; (B) detail of the circular perforation drilled from the apex; the ridges on the edge are due to a skid tool; (C) top view of the 3D model showing the perforation; (D) 3D cross section at the seventh arrow; (E) the conch of Marsoulas in its Magdalenian context (hypothetical restitution); (F) a conch from Southeast Asia, the mouth of which is covered with a black coating, intended to protect the lips of the blower; (G and H) Syrian conch and detail of its chipped mouth, close to that of Marsoulas; (I and J) New Zealand conch and its decorated bone tube mouthpiece. Image Credit: Fritz et al., doi: 10.1126 / sciadv.abe9510.
Using photogrammetry techniques to highlight exterior changes not visible to the naked eye, they painstakingly characterized the traces of human intervention.
They noted the faded ocher fingerprint-like markings, the points of impact along the altered labrum, and signs that the shell apex had been carefully and deliberately removed to create a second opening.
The authors also noted traces of a brown organic substance, probably a resin or wax, around the apical opening that may have been used as an adhesive to secure a mouthpiece.
They then used CT scans to visualize the interior of the shell, finding that two more holes had been chipped in the spiral layers directly below the apex of the shell, likely to accommodate the long extension of the mouthpiece tube. .
The team then brought in a woodwind musicologist, who was able to reproduce the sound of the horn in three distinct notes that almost matched the tones of C, D, and C sharp in modern musical nomenclature.
“We already know that prehistoric people made many seashells into wearable ornaments and therefore attributed substantial bodily symbolism to them,” the researchers said.
“This shell horn, with its unique sound, both deep and strong with lasting reverberation, highlights a musical dimension hitherto unknown in the context of Upper Paleolithic societies.
The team’s article was published in the journal Scientific advances.
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C. Fritz et al. 2021. First recording of the sound produced by the oldest shell horn from the Upper Paleolithic. Scientific advances 7 (7): eabe9510; doi: 10.1126 / sciadv.abe9510
This article is based on press releases provided by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the CNRS.
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