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MIAC
P.O. Box 17166
Sarasota, Florida
34276 USA
Tel: 941 918 9215
66 West Street
Valletta VLT 1538
Malta, Europe
Tel: +356 2122 2910
SPONSORED BY
The OTS Foundation
www.OTSF.org
a non-profit
501c3 corporation
registered in the
State of Florida
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ARCHAEOACOUSTICS - PRELIMINARY
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
SUMMER 2011
Building on
prior investigations, a multi-disciplinary team has been assembled to:
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READ MORE
about how this project was inspired:
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1.)
examine what happens in the human brain in an environment of naturally
produced sound in the frequency range that produces resonant standing
waves in subterranean stone chambers, and
2) shed light on the influence of sound behavior in the design
development, on the Mediterranean islands of Malta, of the world’s first
monumental architecture.
Preliminary research in the field of Archeoacoustics has shown that
Newgrange and other ancient stone chambers resonate within a narrow
range of sound wave frequency between 90 and 120 hz.
According to a laboratory study, exposure to a tone within this
frequency, particularly at 110-111 hz seems to create a shift of brain
function, "turning on" an area of the brain that bio-behavioral
scientists believe relates to mood, empathy and social behavior.
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Malta's
subterranean Hal-Saflieni Hypogeum, architecturally intact after five
thousand years, is known to have eerie sound effects. This site's
architectural features not only mirror the above-ground megalithic
temples, but also imply a primitive understanding of acoustic behavior.
A room in the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum known popularly as “the Oracle
Chamber” has been show to have its strongest resonance at 110 hz.
Could this natural bio-behavioral phenomenon lend weight to the theory
that the development of monumental architecture may actually have been
prompted by a desire to manipulate sound effects in a ritual context?
Can such remote antiquity have new relevance for modern behavior
studies?
Laboratory
testing will be undertaken at the University of Malta to augment the
findings of the previous brain function study. |
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The
ultimate desire of the team is to outfit a number of volunteers of
various ages with portable equipment, including EEG, blood pressure and
skin temperature measurement devices. We would collect a series of EEG
scans of healthy brain activity and other biofeedback while on site in
the Hal-Saflieni Hypogeum with exposure to voice at a range of sound
frequencies that includes 110 or 111 Hz for a duration of approximately
5 minutes.
A music expert would direct the generation of sound from a male baritone
in extended vocalizing. A natural shell horn may also be tested, based
on personal accounts of previous highly unusual sound generation by this
means in the Hypogeum. A sound engineer would monitor and confirm the
frequency levels electronically. An architect would evaluate the
acoustic physicality of the space.
All input would be coordinated and documented for study and analysis by
specialists in neurology and biofeedback. The on-site readings would
be monitored, coordinated and studied using technical signal analysis
tools to determine any physical effect of exposure in actual conditions
that were possible in prehistory, and if the replication of such effect
might have a modern therapeutic application. |
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Testing in
other subterranean sites in Malta and Gozo such as a bomb shelter,
church crypt, catacombs, etc. may bring fresh dimension to the project.
The
research team is comprised primarily from a variety of departments at
the University of Malta and assembled under the umbrella of the
Mediterranean Institute of Ancient Civilizations, a newly formed
international research initiative. As directed by Heritage Malta,
volunteers test subjects would most likely be the team members one at a
time to remain within the 10 person-per-hour dictates of UNESCO for
occupation of the Hypogeum. All equipment would be portable and
non-chemical, requiring only a power source. So as not to compromise
the sensitivity of the site, there would be no need for any special
lighting other than the normal computerized rotation, the minimized
output of display screens and possibly periodic small flashlights on the
equipment to take readings.
Publication is anticipated in the Journal of Mediterranean Studies,
a publication of the Mediterranean Institute, University of Malta; and
is invited for submission to the
Journal of the Society of Architectural
Historians
http://www.sah.org/index.php?src=gendocs&ref=JSAH&category=Publications |
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