A trumpet-call from history
Alumnus unveils function of shells unearthed in Syria
Musicologist Wim Verhulst travelled to Syria as a volunteer to cook for Professor
Joachim Bretschneider’s team of archaeologists. When a number of large, well-preserved
shells were discovered, the musicologist briefly became an archaeologist.
“The story has gradually started leading a life of its own,” Wim Verhulst laughs. He studied musicology at K.U.Leuven and now works at the Musical Instruments Museum in Brussels. Pure coincidence led him to the wonderful world of archaeology: “I met Joachim Bretschneider ten years ago. Every year, he directs a team of archaeologists in Tell Tweini, an archaeological site in Syria where they conduct excavations for seven weeks. My girlfriend at the time was a member of the team and I went to visit her in Syria, where I helped out occasionally. In 2004, Joachim asked whether I would be interested in going along as a logistical member of the team. I did, but when I arrived in Syria it turned out that a student had unexpectedly gone home and so I took his place. I was an archaeologist for six weeks. I went again the following year, but not to work in the field. It wasn’t really my thing. Since then, I accompany the team as a cook for one month every time they go to Syria.”
Every year, Joachim Bretschneider’s team discovers archaeological treasures: four-thousand year-old vases, bronze axes, temples, defensive walls and skeletons. Over the past few years, the team has also unearthed a number of well-preserved shells. But Wim, with his musicologist’s eye, saw that they were not just any old shells. He suggested that they might be conches – sometimes also referred to as 'trumpet shells'.
“We conducted tests ourselves. I blew one of the conches from the roof of the house we were staying in. The sound was easily audible from every corner of the tell, which is Arabic for hill. Greta, one of the archaeologists, walked some distance from the tell. Every time she heard the sound of the conch, she sent me a text message and moved further away. She could hear the sound clearly up to one kilometre away – where she had to stop because of the motorway.”
Interest in the conches grew and Joachim asked Wim if he would like to write an article about them. He started reading and researching: “I may not be an archaeologist, but as a musicologist, I thought I might be able to discuss the shells from a different perspective.” The result was that on 30 October this year, Wim, sound expert Guy Putzeys and a conch went to the chilly Limburg heath. “We conducted a decibel test with one of the conches. From one metre away, the conch registered the incredible decibel level of 107. That is high enough to hurt somebody’s ears. Guy walked further and further away with his measuring instruments while I continued to blow the conch. The sound from the conch was audible up to approximately 1.6 kilometres away.”
This is a unique discovery, Wim says. “The fact that these shells were used as conch trumpets was already known, although few have been excavated. In fact, I think we are the first people to conduct this test.”
“The experiments we conducted demonstrate that it is possible to use the conch as a signalling instrument. The sound of one shell could have warned the inhabitants of Tell Tweini of danger or visitors to the town. The combined sound of two or three shells has an even greater range. The shell may also have had a religious purpose. One of the conches we found in Syria was in a side building of the temple. This may indicate that it was used during religious ceremonies. In fact, at another site, archaeologists discovered a depiction of a priest standing at the altar with a conch in his hand.”
A spectrum analysis of the conch’s tone is yet to be conducted. In the meantime, Wim and his girlfriend Elynn Gorris, an Assyriologist who is also a K.U.Leuven alumnus, have started writing. “I am writing an article about the conches and Elynn is writing about the rattles that were also found in Tell Tweini.”
In mid-December, Wim and Elynn presented their findings at Iconea 2010, a conference for Near and Middle Eastern Archaeomusicology in London. And what about next summer? Wim is just going along to Syria again. “To be clear: not as an archaeologist. I prefer rattling my pots and pans. (laughs)”
Lien Lammar
