(Fwd) Re: Horns used as sounding instruments

[Alice Choyke]

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Dear Alice Choyke:

Many thanks for forwarding this item about the possible bone flute.

You are correct that I am not subscribed to this list. But for your courtesy I
would not have known that anyone noticed my question. I have heard nothing
from the list since then, and so I assume there are no other replies.

The forwarded post seems highly noteworthy, but an acoustician is not to be
relied upon for scholarly insights into worked bone. I can and will raise an
issue out of left field, and hope you will forgive my innocence if it is wrong or
trivial. I can and will make an obvious suggestion about the further acoustical
study of this flute.

Here it comes, for whatever it's worth.

Let's assume that the bone is a flute, and was interred with the person
because the flute was powerfully identified with that person What purpose
might the flute have served in that person's life?

Doubtlessly, many of my musical acoustic colleagues would immediately
assume that its function was musical. But perhaps its primary purpose was
practical.

Since the supposed flute was worked from a sheep bone, perhaps the
interred person was powerfully connected with sheep. Considering the terrain
and the limited occupational choices, an obvious guess is that the interred
may have been a sheep herder.

What practical use might a Neolithic sheep herder have for a flute? This is the
question I should like to be put to those familiar with the practices of sheep
herders.

Why are later shepherds persistently identified with flutes, pipes, and horns.
It is in the nature of sheep and other herd animals. Sheep (and perhaps other
grazing herd animals) tend to wander off and need to be rounded up at the
end of each day. That's the shepherd's job, and this is where sound devices
enter as important shepherd tools.

I am told that sheep (modern sheep at least) recognize the sound of their
shepherd's flute, pipe, or horn, and respond by homing on the sound. Thie
memories of this touching but important fact and daily ritual of shepherd life
are retained. Obvious example in the English-speaking world: "Little boy blue
come blow your horn ... "

Shepherd's need a portable sound device to make unique sounds that carry a
good distance. Flutes are not all that loud. Horns are louder. I don't know
enough about shepherding to be sure that I understand why herders used
flutes. But I'll bet there is a practical reason that has to do with shepherding.
Again, ask the experts. Whatever the practical reason, shepherds would have
plenty of time to invent music as a byproduct. Thus, shepherd music could
have grown out of herder necessity.

Many allusions to shepherds come to us from the Near East through Judeo-
Christian writings, and are embedded deeply in our culture. For example,
consider metaphors about straying or lost sheep. Christian clergy are seen
as "shepherds" or "pastors" which has a similar original meaning. We (the
laity) are their ever-straying flock.

Shepherds are favored over farmers according to my reading of the sources of
that culture. Cain was a farmer and Abel the shepherd, the dichotomous
Neolithic occupations. The God of the Hebrew bible favored the blood
sacrifices of the firstlings of Abel's flock to Cain's vegetable offering. The
Patriarchs of Genesis enter Egypt as shepherds and soon after they emerge,
led by a prince of Egypt who had become a shepherd in Midian. The God of
Exodus "calls" his flock with a shofar - which I suspect was originally a
shepherd horn - to receive the 10 Commandments (Exodus Chapter 19.)
David was a shepherd-king. Christ is both "The Good Shepherd" and "The
Lamb of Sacrifice". (This is the short list.)

I need your help with a problem I'm having with this hypothesis. I have found
no evidence in the archaeological record that Hebrew or proto-Hebrew
shepherds used shofars for signalling or sheparding. There is irrefutable
evidence in scripture of the shofar's use for signaling and in warfare. There is
historical written evidence for their use in the second temple for signaling
(e.g., announcing the New Moon). Although there is abundant iconographic
evidence of shofars as symbols on the floors of ancient synagogues, I have
not found any evidence of material remains of an ancient shofars Why is
that?

I suppose that animal horns originate as hair rather than bone. Although
horns are not bones, I'm hoping that someone in your group can tell me
whether animal horns are likely or unlikely to persist in the archaeological
record.

Here is my practical suggestion for study of this "flute". Forgive me if this is
already old stuff to your august group. Could it be useful for the acoustical
study of this flute to cast replicas and distribute them to various laboratories
that study musical archaeology. There are modern methods of nondestructive
scanning of a 3-dimensional object and replication by machine. This could
help to bring unite specialists who don't usually communicate with each other
in common cause. For better or worse!

Best regards,

David Lubman
Westminster, California
------------------------
h13017cho at helka.iif.hu wrote:
    Dear David,
    Since you are not on the bonetool list I thought I
    had better forward you this response.
    hope it helps!

    Alice Choyke
    ------- Forwarded message follows -------
    Date sent:      Wed, 15 Oct 2003 00:20:48 +0100
    Send reply to:  Mailing list for archaeologists of
    the research group for
    <BONETOOLS at LISTSERV.IIF.HU>
    From:           georgejayne
    <georgejayne at lineone.net>
    Subject:        Re: (Fwd) Horns used as sounding
    instruments
    To:             BONETOOLS at LISTSERV.IIF.HU

    Dear David Lubman,

    I can't help you with horns but we do have in the
    UK a unique Neolithic site
    in Wales. The excavation revealed a bone flute,
    made from Ovis (sheep).This
    instrument was C14 dated to 3020+/-80bc and the
    earliest in Britain.
    Outlined below is the description of the monument
    where the flute was found.
    I am not sure what chord it is in - but probably
    C.

    Take care,

    George Nash,
    University of Bristol
    UK.

    12. Penywyrlod, Talgarth
    NGR SO 1505 3156
    Monument Classification: BRE 14
    Not to be confused with Penywrlod [BRE 1],
    Llanigon, this monument stands on
    a small rise overlooking Mynydd Troed. Partly
    hidden by tree cover,
    Penwyrlod was discovered during quarrying and
    excavated in 1972. Much of the
    chamber and passage plan at the southern end of
    the mound remains intact.
    The mound, one of the largest in the area, is a
    Òhybrid¹ type of the later
    Severn-Cotswold design. Originally, Penwyrlod
    possessed two extended horns
    and a false portal at the southern end. These are
    no longer visible.
    However, three chambers with disturbed capstones,
    and the remains of two
    passages, can be clearly identified. The chambers
    and passages open out
    towards the Black Mountains and, to the west, the
    Brecon Beacons. However,
    the internal architecture, that is, the
    arrangement of chambers and
    passages, appears to be influenced only by the
    Black Mountains.

    Standing 260m above sea level, on the crest of a
    ridge above the Afon Llynfi
    valley, the monument is clearly valley aligned,
    even though the orientation
    is directly towards Mynydd Troed. Also worth
    noting is that the monument is
    inter-visible with three other nearby tombs -
    Ffostyll North (3) and South
    (4) and Pipton (8). All are similar
    architecturally and appear to share an
    affinity in terms of landscape topography and
    valley alignment.

    Prior to excavation, the northern section of the
    grass-covered mound had
    been heavily quarried. This had destroyed one side
    chamber, exposed another
    and revealed a false portal and central chamber
    lying beyond the main axis.
    Quarrying also revealed the original outline of
    the mound, which
    incorporated substantial revetment walling at the
    north-eastern end and
    along the south-eastern horn of the forecourt.
    Excavations at both ends of
    the axis suggested the mound measured 52m x 22.5m.
    A total of six
    excavations, mainly on the revetment facing north-
    east, exposed three
    side-chambers, a central chamber (access to which
    may have been from the
    north-east) and the north-eastern horn. The
    central chamber comprised two
    orthostats (still visible today) in-filled with
    earth and sandstone. The
    excavation report (Britnell & Savory 1972)
    suggests these were tilted
    inwards to support a large capstone(s), the entire
    structure then being
    covered by a rubble cairn. The north-eastern
    chamber had been almost totally
    destroyed; only a single orthostat remained that
    appeared to form two
    separate compartments measuring 2m x 1.2m and 1.6m
    x 1m. The latter was
    entered from a passage between two revetment
    walls. Fallen uprights
    indicated a second chamber, measuring 2.85m x 1m x
    1.3m, on the
    north-eastern side. A slab sealed the chamber,
    giving the impression of a
    false entrance, a feature commonly found within
    the Severn-Cotswold region.
    The third excavated chamber lay at the terminal
    end of the mound and
    revealed an entrance with supporting revetment
    walls.

    Much disarticulated human bone was recovered from
    chambers two - where long
    bones were piled against the foot of the side-
    walls - and three ñ the
    remains from which possibly formed part of an
    ossuary deposit (RCHAM(W):40).
    A flint knife, a possible bone flute and many
    animal bones accompanied the
    human remains. Several fragments of Abingdon ware
    were recovered from within
    the same chamber area, beneath the entrance.
    George Nash
    Orchard Cottage,
    Weobley Marsh,
    Herefordshire,
    HR4 8RP.

    Tel. 0044 1544 318 512
    Mob. 07947 558 402
    Website:http:www.georgenash.freeserve.co.uk

    Center for the Historic Environment,
    Department of Archaeology,
    University of Bristol,
    43 Woodlands Road,
    Bristol,
    England.

    ----------

    From: Alice Choyke <h13017cho at helka.iif.hu>
    To: BONETOOLS at LISTSERV.IIF.HU
    Subject: (Fwd) Horns used as sounding
    instruments
    Date: Tue, Oct 14, 2003, 9:17 pm




    ------- Forwarded message follows -------
    Date sent:              Mon, 13 Oct 2003
    12:59:21 -0700
    From:                   David Lubman
    <dlubman at ix.netcom.com>
    Organization:           David Lubman &
    Associates
    To:
    bonetools at listserv.iif.hu
    Subject:                Horns used as
    sounding instruments

    Dear Sirs/Madams:

    I am an acoustical scientist in California
    (USA) studying the ancient
    history of the "shofar".

    I seek evidence from the archaeological
    record of the ancient use of the
    horns of herd animals for sounding, perhaps
    by shepherds, and especially
    in the middle east.

    I am aware that the word "shofar" is derived
    from the Assyrian
    "shapparu" which I understand to be a wild
    goat of the ibex family.

    I speculate that animal horns found mundane
    uses by shepherds for
    calling over long distances for many hundreds
    of years before they
    became the ritual instrument we know today.

    I will be most grateful for scholarly
    references and opinions.

    Sincerely yours,

    David Lubman, FASA
    Acoustical Consultant
    14301 Middletown Lane
    Westminster, CA USA 92683
    714.898.9099



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