Trying to hear what prehistoric hunter-gatherers heard by examining rock art site acoustics

The sites consist of vertical cliffs rising directly from the lakes, with painted images of humans, boats, and animals, sometimes also drummers and typically gave clear and distinct echoes

Custom-built raft used for summertime recordings, Olhavanvuori rock art site in the background. Photo by Julia Shpinitskaya.

‘What monstrous place is this’, said Angel. ‘It hums’, said she. ‘Harken! — Tess of the d’Urbervilles.

Thomas Hardy knew that the wind made Stonehenge sing. He described hearing reverberations within the monument. In 2014, researchers from the Royal College of Art found that each of the small ‘blue stones’ there produces a unique musical tone when struck.