THE unique acoustics of ancient monuments around the world are facing destruction, claim researchers pushing for legislation to protect the echo-rich qualities of prehistoric sites. Scientists meeting at the First Pan-American/Iberian Meeting on Acoustics in Cancún, Mexico, this week are making the plea as they highlight the importance of acoustics in sites from painted caves to pyramids.
Rock art expert Steven Waller says the acoustics of ancient sites reveal much about the people who built them. Waller and others have taken sound recordings of echoes around 150 different archaeological sites. He told the conference that at many sites, including Horseshoe Canyon in Utah and Hieroglyphic Canyon in Arizona, the echoes are more intense at points where decorations appear than elsewhere around the site.
Waller believes the eerie natural sound effects may have been a primary motivation for some of the paintings. "People are so used to echoes now as invisible ...
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