Roperten fra Kvalsundskipet presentert i Barcelona

På konferansen presenterte jeg mine tolkninger sammen med min egen rekonstruksjon av megafonen, basert på tegninger i Shetelig og Johannessens publikasjon fra 1929. Under har jeg lagt inn noen fotografier av rekonstruksjonen og arbeidet med den. Hvis noen vet mer om megafoner eller om kommunikasjon til sjøs med lyd, tar jeg gjerne del i det! Først, her er innleggets abstract:

Sound communication in non-reverberating acoustical spaces

Acoustic spaces or sound spaces are natural or man-made structures used for sound, or with sound as an integral part of religious ceremonies, gatherings or feasts. As shown in an increasing number of archaeoacoustic studies, some of these designated spaces, such as caves, megaliths – and later – theatres, churches, halls and other man-made structures, are used or constructed specifically because of their acoustic properties.

However, in many situations and places, people could neither make benefit from architectural structures nor natural spaces for acoustic communication. Some natural environments are especially unsuitable or demanding for communication purposes, with few hard surfaces that naturally reverberates and amplifies sound waves. People have therefore made use of certain techniques or specially designed contrivances of for communication purposes. One such place is at sea or in costal landscapes where the ocean and/or wind is the «keynote sound» of the soundscape.

In a ship excavated in Kvalsund, Sunnmøre, on the west coast of Norway, the archaeologists found a wooden funnel-shaped 72,5 centimetre long object, interpreted as a megaphone. The ship, which probably was a seagoing vessel, was dated to the 7th to 8th century AD. Based on reconstructions and experiments, this paper will discuss the acoustical function of the possible megaphone. It will also discuss other methods of communication at sea – with sound producing devices, or with other means, such as the whistling language used in whale hunting by the Siberian Yupik people, south of the Bering strait.