Antique shell horn blown for the first time in 18,000 years

Henri Begouën and James Townsend Russell came across an exceptional find in 1931. at the entrance of the Marsoulas Cave in the Pyrenees foothills in France. men knew that it was once used by human ancestors in the late Stone Age. But, as exceptional as the find was, the researchers put the concave away and believed it had no sign of human change.

But the forgotten shell, on display at the Muséum de Toulouse in France, was reconsidered by researchers about 80 years after its discovery, and they believe it is the oldest wind instrument yet discovered. According to the team, the Marsoulas shell was blown by members of the Magdalenian cultures, who lived in Western Europe about 21,000 to 14,000 years ago.

And they used a musician for the first time in millennia to play the track.

Their research, published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, uses a fidelity X-ray scan and fluorescence spectrometry to see how human hands have transformed the shell into a musical instrument. You can see an exceptional 3D version here.

Using the scans, the team was able to determine ‘impact points’ where it appeared the shell had been altered. Most of the change was made at the tip of the shell, the sticky, pointed end, which according to the team was deliberately opened to create a hole through which the concealer would blow the air. This, they reason, can not break accidentally, because it is usually the most difficult part of a concussion. It appears that the apex also has signs of a resin or wax used to attach a nozzle to it, but there is not enough to determine its origin.

Red pigments found on the inside and outside of the shell were also present in the Marsoulas Cave. It seems that the people from the late-Stone Age used finger paints and used their fingerprints to form extensive art on the cave walls. However, the team could not determine if the faded ocher marks on the conch and the paintings on the cave walls consisted of the same chemicals, because it faded over time.

Shell shells have been used throughout history as sacred objects or musical instruments, and the authors claim that the previously oldest shells were discovered in the Mediterranean, from ancient Greece.

With the case for the Marsoulas conk as a powerful instrument, the team asked a musicologist to confirm it. One very lucky horn player was able to reproduce the sounds of human prehistory by playing three notes: a C, C-sharp and a D.

In January last year, scientists were able to print the vocal canal of a 3,000-year-old mummy named Nesyamun 3D. brings his voice back from the dead. But the re-creation could only resound specific vocals and eventually sounds like an apathetic moan. Nesyamun’s voice was back, but all he could do was “ehhhh.”

However, the conch’s tone is deep and pleasant – euphonic, even! You can listen to the three notes here.

If we can now just let Nesyamun’s 3D printed vocal channel blow through the horn, who knows what eldritch horrors we may unleash in 2021?