After the shells were rediscovered in the collections of French museums, they were played for the first time in thousands of years
When a research team was studying the archaeological list of the Natural History Museum of Toulouse, France, a large shell caught their attention. It was first unearthed from the Masuras cave in the foothills of the Pyrenees in 1931. The conch, which is larger than a human head, has been stored in the museum along with other cultural relics for decades. But when archaeologists re-examined, they realized that this is not just an ordinary ocean fossil. They discovered that the conch was carved into a wind instrument capable of producing specific notes—basically an instrument proposed by archaeologists, which may be played for ritual purposes.
"When it was first discovered in 1931, it was interpreted as a cup of love," said the director of the Laboratory of Molecular and Structural Archaeology at Sorbonne University and a study published today in the journal Science Advances. Author Philip Walter said. Walter’s laboratory conducted a series of tests to determine what else the conch might be. Ancient residents used love cups to share drinks on various occasions or ceremonies, but the facts have proved that conch has more artistic uses. "When we inspected it, we gradually realized that it was a special object," Walter said.
The Marsoulas Cave is a famous archaeological site and one of many excavations in southwestern Europe called home by ancient societies. About 18,000 years ago, a group called the Pyrenees Magdalenians lived in this cave, leaving behind frescoes and various objects, including conch. Early humans were known for making simple musical instruments even before that time-such as flutes carved from bird bones, but the "conch musical instrument" will be the oldest musical instrument known today. The co-author of the study, Carol F. Ritz explained that he led the research of the French National Center for Scientific Research of Prehistoric Art (CNRS).
The archaeologists who discovered it 80 years ago speculated that it was only broken due to wear and tear, but since the tip of the conch is the strongest point of the shell, the modern team suspects it is a human handmade product.
When Walter put the conch into a CT scan, he did find many strange human contacts. Ancient artists not only deliberately cut off the tip, but also pierced or drilled round holes in the coils of the shells. Through these holes, they probably inserted a small tubular mouthpiece. In order to hold the mouthpiece in place, it is believed that the Magdalenians used some kind of viscous organic material, possibly clay or wax, but the team was unable to determine what exactly it was. "It's just that there is not enough material to explain what it is," Walter said.
What he could see was that the corners of the shell were decorated with traces of red paint. Painted as a series of red dots in the size and shape of fingerprints, the opening of the shell is covered by the touch. In addition, in terms of art, this red dot style is strikingly similar to the big bison image painted by the artist Magdalene on the cave wall. (Walter said that the paintings in the cave were discovered in 1897 and described in an article published in the journal Nature in 1932.) These similarities in style can indicate some special ritual practices. In practice, the sound of shell horns is close to the picture of bison to express spiritual, celebratory, or other reasons.
Out of curiosity what kind of sound the conch will make today, the team consulted a professional horn player. "This is a very important emotional moment for me," Fitz said. She worried that the ancient conch might be damaged. "Because it is a primitive shell, we don't know how the shell will react." But the wind instrument performed well, making sounds close to the three notes of C, C, and D. "And the sound is really great," Fritz said. Walter added that these three notes are not the limit of the shell's ability, but just a quick sound experiment. "There are many other possibilities," he said.
Walter said that the mouthpiece may make it easier to blow air into the conch, because in the current state, it is uncomfortable for the player to cover the opening of the conch with his lips. It may also help control the amount of air blown in, which may affect the sound.
Margaret W. Conkey, an archaeologist at the University of California, Berkeley, has conducted extensive research in the Pyrenees region and is familiar with the Maslulas caves, but did not participate in the project. Excited by these developments. She described these findings as "excellent examples of archaeological research and reasoning," which can deepen the interpretation of human life and customs in prehistoric times. She also pointed out that this study proved that aspiring archaeologists do not always need to discover a new excavation site to unearth prehistoric treasures. Examining existing collections may produce equally exciting results.
Researchers believe that shells originated in the Cantabria region of Spain today, as did some other objects in the cave, such as spear-tip fragments carved from cetacean bones. However, the conch was found at the foot of the Pyrenees, several miles from the nearest ocean or sea, which means it is an important item that people carry with them. Conkey said that these hunter-gatherer societies are mobile and can span great distances. Although they spent a certain amount of time in the cave, they also spent a lot of time in the open air, gathering at certain meeting places at certain times of the year, where they found a partner and traded items. "These people have a very material and symbolic world," Conkey said. "They make spicules and clothes, exchange things and make paint," she explained-they carry their belongings with them on the journey. Therefore, even if a particular group may not frequent the coast, they may have traded conch from a group that frequents the coast.
She added that Magdalenians also value sensory experiences, including those produced by wind instruments. Playing a trumpet-shaped instrument in the cave has a very good acoustic effect and is likely to produce a strong feeling. "Marsoulas is a small cave, which is a very large conch," Conkey said. "Can you imagine what the sound would be like there?"
This is exactly what the team wanted to do at some point-inside the Marsoulas cave, the shell next to the bison painting made a sound. "When we played shells in [lab], the effect was great, it produced a very strong sound," Walter said, but it might have a stronger or more subtle resonance in the cave because "the cave acoustics are very specific ." It will be very interesting to hear and feel what it will cause in humans in 18,000 years. "It is wonderful to consider the possibility of using it in caves," he said.
Lina Zeldovich has written for The New York Times, Scientific American, Reader's Digest, and other publications, and has won four awards for reporting on stool science. Her book "Other Dark Matter: Science and Business Turning Waste into Wealth" will be published by the University of Chicago Press in November 2021.
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