Earliest shell horn played for first time in 17,000 years
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A Charonia lampas trumpet shell, unearthed in 1931 at an archaeological dig in the Pyrenees and then forgotten, being displayed at the Museum of Natural History in Toulouse, France, on Wednesday. Scientists believe the ancient conch, from a species of large sea snail still present in the Atlantic and the North Sea, is the oldest wind instrument of its type found. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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PARIS • After more than 17,000 years of silence and decades forgotten in a French museum, a shell fashioned into a horn by our prehistoric ancestors has been played again as a result of new research.
Scientists believe the ancient conch, from a species of large sea snail still present in the Atlantic and the North Sea, is the oldest wind instrument of its type found.
The shell was unearthed in 1931 at an archaeological dig in the Pyrenees near the mouth of the Marsoulas Cave, whose walls are painted with the artwork of Magdalenian people living there at the end of the last ice age. It was taken to the Museum of Natural History in Toulouse and forgotten.
But a new examination using modern technology found not only that it had been altered, but also that it could still hold a note. Or three, as it turned out.
Played by a musician, it had tones close to C, C sharp and D. And it boomed at a resounding 100 decibels a metre from the conch.
"This sound is a link, a direct link with Magdalenian people," said Ms Carole Fritz, lead author of the study and a senior scientist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research.
She said it was "very important because you have the sea in the cave", adding that the shell was from the Atlantic, some 200km from the cave.
Instruments older than the conch have been found - flutes whittled from the bones of large birds like swans and eagles - but the researchers said this was the oldest shell horn, symbolising the importance of the ocean to Magdalenian people.
The study, published in Science Advances, said radiocarbon dating of items at the cave suggests it was occupied around 18,000 years ago.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
