Metallic idiophones between 800 BC and 800 AD in Central Europe

Project start: 01.01.2020

Project end: 31.12.2022

Herta Firnberg Project, project number T-1136

Project goal:

The goal of this project is to investigate metal idiophones, their function and their acoustic influence on the daily life of people in Central Europe from 800 BC to 800 AD. The project brings together institutions from several different countries and follows an interdisciplinary approach. The sounds created by the objects generate acoustic fields, thereby influencing people’s acoustic environment and thus their listening habits. This interdisciplinary project contributes to research into music, musical listening habits, identity through sounds and the role of acoustic signals in regulating daily life in prehistoric and early history communities. One aspect of the research looks at the influence of sounds on health. It is the first time that sound objects discovered by archaeologists are not only interpreted, dated, examined for their geographical distribution and analysed from a tonal perspective but also serve as the basis for looking into the psychoacoustic parameters of their sounds and their effect on the physical and mental health of humans.

The project uses metallic idiophones cast in bronze and forged from sheet iron: bells, jingles, costume jewellery, vessels with rattling pendants, and hoops and rings (several would have been worn at the same time on the arms and legs).

Objects to be studied:

Excavations of the Iron Age burial site in Hallstatt have revealed jewellery and vessels with rattling pendants dating to the Hallstatt period. The project will also analyse jingles from the Iron Age burial sites in Bofflens, Lyssach, Langenthal, Valeyres-sous-Rances, Sion and Kernenried-Oberholz (all in Switzerland, Hallstatt period) as well as hoops and rings worn on the arms and legs found in graves at Eislfeld/Dürrnberg (Austria, Hallstatt period & Latène period).

Objects from the Roman Imperial period include bells from the military camps, settlements and burial sites at Vindobona (Vienna), Carnuntum (Petronell-Carnuntum), Ovilava (Wels), Iuvavum (Salzburg), Lentia (Linz), Adiuvense (Wallsee), Favianis (Mautern), Comagenis (Tulln), Augustianis (Traismauer) and Mauerbach.

Early medieval bells and jingles from Avar cemeteries will be studied at ten sites in Austria, nine sites in Slovakia and thirty-one sites in Hungary

Methods:

Archaeology: analysis of objects in the collections, database, finding similar objects for comparison, classification according to type, analysis of archaeological context, chronological classification, inspection of written/iconographic sources from the respective periods
Metallurgical and textile analyses: scanning electron microscopy, X-ray fluorescence analysis, DinoLite digital microscope, light microscope
Acoustic analyses: sound recordings, analyses of basic spectral and temporal characteristics, sound level measurements, analyses of psychoacoustic parameters
Experimental archaeology: reproducing selected objects in experiments
Music ethnology: study of analogies from music etnology
Psychological examination: Experience Sampling Methods (ESM)

Beispiele:

Frequency analysis of the bronze pellet bell from grave 715, late Avar period, Avar cemetery Vösendorf/Laxenburgerstraße

Roman bronze bell, Hallstatt period cemetery Hallstatt-Hochtal, discovered in grave 765

Fibula with rattling pendants, grave 505, Hallstatt period cemetery Hallstatt-Hochtal, replica

Projectmanagement & Projectpart Archaeology, Acoustics & Studying antique written and iconographic sources:

Mag. Dr. Beate Maria Pomberger (Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Prähistorische Abteilung)
Mail:

Projectpartners:

Supervision & Projectpart Textil:
Priv.-Doz. Mag. Dr. habil Karina Grömer (Natural History Museum Vienna, Prehistoric Departement)

Projectpart Psychoacoustic Analyses:
Mag. Dr. Jörg H. Mühlhans (MediLab Universität Wien)

Projectpart Metallurgy:
Ing. Mag. Dr. des. Mathias Mehofer (VIAS - Vienna Institute of Archaeological Science/University of Vienna)

Dr. Dan Topa (Natural History Museum Vienna/Central research laboratory)
Doc. Mgr. Ján Tirpák, CSc. (Univerzita Konštantína Filosofa v Nitre/Department of Gemology, Fakulta Prírodných Vied)
Bernadett Bajnóczi PhD (Hungarian Academy of Sciences/Institute for Geological and Geochemical Research - Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences)

Projectpart Psychological Studies:
Univ-Prof. Dr. Urs Markus Nater (University of Vienna/Institute of Applied Psychology: Health, Development, Enhancement and Intervention)

Projecpart Ethnomusicologial Analogies:
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Julio Mendivil, M.A. (University of Vienna/ Institute of Musicology)

Experimental Archaeology:
Mag. Michael Konrad (Danube University Krems/Academic Assistant Department for Arts and Cultural Studies)
Lukas Kerbler MA (University of Vienna/Institute of Prehistory and Historic Archaeology)

Collaboration of museums and collections in which the objects to be examined are kept:

bronze pellet bell from grave 715, late Avar period, Avar cemetery Vösendorf/Laxenburgerstraße

Beate Maria Pomberger, playing a musical bow

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Metallic idiophones between 800 BC and 800 AD in Central Europe

Project goal:

Objects to be studied:

Methods:

Beispiele:

Projectmanagement & Projectpart Archaeology, Acoustics & Studying antique written and iconographic sources:

Projectpartners:

Collaboration of museums and collections in which the objects to be examined are kept:

a. Austria

b. Hungary

c. Slovakia

d. Switzerland