Sounding out the Past

This episode of The EXARC Show features #FinallyFriday guests Lara Comis and Simon Wyatt for “Sounding Out the Past". We have two different perspectives on the topic of sounds this month, Lara focusing on collecting ambient sounds relating to archaeological open-air museum activities and crafts, and Simon exploring musical instruments of the past. Host Matilda Siebrecht listens in as our guests discuss some of the cognitive underpinnings of how we process sound, the many ways that sounds and music play into lives in the past, and the value of pausing and listening to the world around us. Tune in for conversation interspersed with soundscapes and reconstructed musical instruments to give your ears a treat from the past!

The first time Lara got in contact with experimental archaeology was in 1995. As an ERASMUS student at the University of Edinburgh, she attended Nicholas Dixon’s Underwater Archaeology and contributed in building one of the wattle walls of the Scottish Crannog Centre.

Simon: "My PhD in Archaeology, at Edinburgh University, examined the objects interpreted as clay drums, from the Trichterbecher culture (TRB - 3300-2700 BC). During this time, I constructed models of the different drum styles in order to investigate the techniques of attaching a drum-skin."