Stone Age Soundtracks

Subtitled 'the acoustic archaeology of ancient sites', this is the book to accompany the Channel 4 programme that some readers may have seen. As Christopher Chippindale observes, the rationale for such observation is 'here is an ancient place whose structure and order and size and shape and controlling human logic are such that we can reasonably conclude that sounds were part of its ancient purpose and use and meaning, as evident in the care taken to create it that way'. The book takes a pioneering look at the likely use of sound in ritual settings and contains some fascinating findings that show an acoustic consistency across different sites. The reader is also introduced into the ancient world of sound - an almost unimaginably different world to our own.