Submissions due 01 September 2013

Researchers around the globe are now taking note of unusual sound behavior in the world's sacred places and earliest buildings, including Malta's megalithic temples.

The question goes beyond:  Did ancient people try to control sound?   to wondering:  Why?

Our goal during this event is to pull together information and experience from a wide range of sources, seeking a thread that identifies the most fundamental application of the human experience of hearing.

Emeritus Professor, Universite de Paris Ouest and Archaeoacoustics pioneer, Iegor Reznikoff : Thirty Years of Research in the Sound Dimension of Painted Caves and Rocks

International award-winning architect, designer and poet, Richard England : The Spirit of Place

Contributors include:                     

  • Panagiota Avgerinou, 3rd Ephorate of Classical and Prehistoric Antiquities; Stella Dreni, Archaeologist-Numismatist, Greece: The Acoustics of the Eleusinian Telesterion
  • Ros Bandt, Senior Research Fellow in Sound and Culture, University of Melbourne, Australia: Sonic Archaeology: Towards a Theory for Re-Hearing the Past
  • Stephanie Conner, University of York, England: The Score of Babylon – A Methodology for Reconstructing Ancient Songs
  • Paolo Debertolis, Department of Medical Science and Health, University of Trieste, Italy: Archaeoacoustics Analysis of an Ancient Hypogeum in Italy
  • And Dr. Debertolis with Fabrizio Monti, Director of Clinical Neurophysiology, University of Trieste, Italy; Giancarlo Tirelli, Director of Clinical Otorhinolaryngology, University of Trieste, Italy: Systems of Acoustic Resonance and Related Brain Activity
  • Margarita Diaz-Andreu, ICREA- University of Barcelona, Spain; Carlos Garcia Benito, University of Zaragoza, Spain: Decorating Acoustics?  Levantine Rock Art and Sound.  A Comparison of Rock Art Acoustic Landscapes
  • Anne Habermehl, Independent Researcher, USA: Music and Neanderthals: An Alternative Point of View  (P)
  • Wouter Henkleman, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris, France;
  • Sepideh Khaksar, Tehran University, Freie Universitat, Berlin, Germany: Landscapes of Eternity: Music and Acoustics at Kul-e Farah, Naqs-e Rustam and Tang-e Sarvak (Elam prehistoric sites, Iran)
  • Esthir Lemi, School of Music and Dance, University of Michigan, USA; Mairi Gkikaki, Greek Ministry of Culture: The Pharos of Alexandria as a Total Work of Art and a Soundscape
  • Torill Cristina Lindstrom, Institute of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen, Norway; Ezra Zubrow, Department of Anthropology, University of Buffalo, NY,  USA: Fear and Amazement
  • David Lubman, FASA, FINCE, Acoustical Scientist/Consultant, USA: Chirped Echoes Resounded at Now Silent MesoAmerican Pyramids in Ancient Times – Research at Chichen Itza and A Deterministic Hypothesis for the Correlation between Painting Density and Resonance in Painted Paleolithic Caves
  • Maria Cristina Pascual, Freie Universitat, Berlin, Germany: Temples of Music: The "Cuicalli" and the "Calmecac", Ancient American Conservatories  (P)
  • José Pérez de Arce, Museum of PreColumbian Art, Santiago, Chile: The Design of Open Space Sound in PreColumbian Chilean Andes
  • Riitta Rainio, Department of Musicology, University of Helsinki, Finland: Acoustics of the Sacred Sites in Northern Finland (P)
  • Alejandro Ramos, Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Mexico: Mesoamerican Archaeoacoustics
  • Ely Rosenblum, Faculty of Music, University of Cambridge, England: Writing Histories of Listening: Acoustemology as Literary Practice
  •  Ozra Rounaghy, Mohammad Karim Nia Fard, Shabadeh Azizpour, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran: A Study of the Archaeology of Acoustic Sound in the Iranian Historic Monuments   
  • Divya Shrivastava, College of Social Science and Languages Mekelle University, Tigray Ethiopia: Acoustic Use in Ancient Indian Architecture in Forts and Temples
  • Katya Stroud, Senior Curator, Prehisitoric Sites - Heritage Malta: Acoustic History of Malta’s Hal-Saflieni Hypogeum
  • Karen Tee, Archaeology/Environmental Heritage, JCU University, Cairns, Australia: What If: The Keys to Our Future Lie Carved Within the Footprints of Our Past  (P)
  • Dave Thomas, Orkney College (University of Highlands and Islands) United Kingdom: Acoustic Intentionality, Infrasound or No Sound.  A Preliminary Acoustic Analysis of Maeshowe (Neolithic) Burial Chamber.
  • Rupert Till, Senior Lecturer School of Music, Humanities & Media University of Huddersfield, England: European Sound Archaeology: A Multi-disciplinary Perspective
  • Lise Tjellesen, University of Salford, UK; Bruno Fazenda, Senior Lecturer in Audio Technology at the University of Salford, UK: Application of Acoustic Methods to Archaeological Research – Stonehenge Revisited
  • Steven J. Waller, Researcher, Author, International Speaker, USA: Auditory Illusions in the Soundscapes of Rock Art and Stonehenge
  • Nektarios Peter Yioutsos, University of Ioannina, Greece: Pan Rituals of Ancient Greece: a Multi-Sensory Body Experience

All presentations will be in English.