Hear the sound of an ancient conch horn, played again after 18,000 years

Researchers have identified the earliest known conch shell horn adapted by humans and have heard it played for the first time in 18,000 years, according to a new study published in the open-access journal Science Advances. Discovered in Marsoulas Cave, France, where the walls are rich in rock art, the conch horn provides a rare insight into the sounds that once reverberated around this sacred space, and probably held an important social or ritual meaning to the local Upper Palaeolithic population. …

“It is fantastic to have these notes produced by this very old musical instrument,” says Philippe Walter, the director of the laboratory of molecular and structural archaeology (CNRS-Sorbonne), France. “We must now continue this work with a 3D printed model or with virtual models, and we hope in the near future to be able to create a virtual musical instrument that would let any musician discover the sensations allowed by the seashell horn from Marsoulas.”

By Garry Sham , The Art Newspaper