Prehistoric Artwork May Have been Inspired by 'Supernatural' Sound Waves in Caves

Some of mankind's earliest forms of art can be found in the form of prehistoric cave paintings, canyon petroglyphs and megalithic structures. Now, though, researchers have taken a closer look at these prehistoric pieces of art and have found that they may have been inspired by the behaviors of sound waves behind misinterpreted as "supernatural."

"Ancient mythology explained echoes from the mouths of caves as replies from spirits, so our ancestors may have made cave paintings in response to these echoes and their believe that echo spirits inhabited rocky places such as caves or canyons," said Steven Waller, one of the researchers, in a news release.

Echoes of clapping noises can sound a bit like hoof beats. In addition, multiple echoes within a cavern can blur together into a thunderous reverberation that sounds like a herd of hoofed creatures.

"Many ancient cultures attributed thunder in the sky to 'hoofed thunder gods,' so it makes sense that the reverberation within the caves was interpreted as thunder and inspired paintings of those same hoofed thunder gods on cave walls," said Waller. "This theory is supported by acoustic measurements, which show statistically significant correspondence between the rock art sites and locations with the strongest sound reflection."

That's not all the researchers noticed, either. Waller found a resemblance between an interference pattern and Stonehenge, so he set up an interference pattern in an open field with just two flutes, droning to the same note. This allowed him to explore what it would sound like.

"The quiet regions of destructive sound wave cancellation, in which the high pressure from one flute cancelled the low pressure from the other flute, gave blindfolded subjects the illusion of a giant ring of rocks or 'pillars' casting acoustic shadows," said Waller. "My theory that musical interference patterns served as blueprints for megalithic stone circles-many of which are called Pipers' Stones-is supported by ancient legends of two magic pipers who enticed maidens to dance in a circle and turned them all into stones."

The findings reveal how acoustics may have influenced prehistoric art. In fact, it demonstrates acoustical phenomena were culturally significant to early humans.

The findings were presented during the 168^th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA).