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HNS Thesis draft.pdf (887.12 KB)

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Rock Music: The Sounds of Flintknapping

Smith, Heather Noelle
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1586714709929574

Abstract Details

2020, MA, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Anthropology.
Heather Noelle Smith, May 2020, Department of Anthropology, Rock Music: The Sounds of Flintknapping, Metin I. Erin advisor Flintknapping, or stone tool making, has been practiced by the human lineage for 3 million years. The sounds produced during this technology are not well understood. Through experimental archaeology, this technology can be performed in the exact same manner as it was in the deep past. This allows us to study the sounds produced by our ancient ancestors which would have set up a new auditory environment. This study aimed to describe the sounds of flintknapping from a musical perspective and then integrate that information with our knowledge of human evolution and auditory perception. Flintknapping sounds were analyzed with musical dictation and chi square tests. Sounds were characterized from five different tool stone types and among three different skill levels of knappers. Flintknapping sounds were found to be part of the harmonic series. The rock nodules did not change pitch with size, but maintained a single pitch throughout the knapping process. Significant differences were found among material types and also among individual knappers. The range of rock sounds was found to be similar to the range of human vocal sounds. Flintknapping sounds likely influenced early musical expression, informed our tool production, and contributed to our bio-cultural evolution.
Metin Eren, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Merri Rosen, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Mary Ann Raghanti, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Richard Meindl, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
40 p.
Archaeology; Music; Neurosciences
archaeology; flintknapping; early music; human evolution; vocal ranges; harmonic series; auditory neuroscience

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Smith, H. N. (2020). Rock Music: The Sounds of Flintknapping [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1586714709929574

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Smith, Heather. Rock Music: The Sounds of Flintknapping. 2020. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1586714709929574.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Smith, Heather. "Rock Music: The Sounds of Flintknapping." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1586714709929574

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1586714709929574
783
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This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.