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Archaeologist and artist Steven Waller has spent the past two decades exploring a multisensory explanation for the location and design of Neolithic and Paleolithic art. Looking beyond visual spatial elements, Waller argues that artists chose sites based on their acoustic properties—particularly their ability to create echoes. The acoustic environment of each site created echoes that resembled hoof beats, voices emanating from rock, or other sounds, which in turn led users to paint works related to the sound that became part of ritual activities.
Waller’s core idea is insightful, and he invites other researchers to test the basic theory. The idea raises interesting issues and unique problems for historic preservation efforts. The inclusion of the audio environment alters our spatial awareness of cultural sites and also makes some protection activities counterproductive or—at worst—destructive. Concrete walls or other barriers, for example, would change a site’s acoustic properties.
A discussion of Waller’s work has most recently appeared in the September/October 2008 issue of Archaeology, and Waller has used his research as the basis for works of installation art.
. Historian Shae Davidson's research interests include public policy and the relationship between culture and civil society. His publications range from articles on industrial history to absurdist poetry.
