Around the world, mankind has raised almost inexplicably outrageous constructions such as Stonehenge, the Gothic cathedrals of Europe, Machu Picchu, and the pyramids of both Egypt and Mexico. Although separated by oceans and millennia, these places are linked by their acoustics.
That’s the theory of David Elkington, author of this discussion of sacred sites and their acoustics. It is based on studies in archaeoacoustics, a branch of field of archaeology that examines the acoustics of archaeological sites and artifacts for insights into their use by the cultures that constructed them.
“We are inclined to see temples and pyramids very much in the past tense and fail to see that they were, and still are, living, breathing places of creation: of the outpouring of creation that came from them. What we do not and cannot see is what we cannot now hear – these were places of music and dance. Britain had Perpetual Choirs, there were Choral Guilds in the Temple of Jerusalem, the pyramids rang out to the music and hymns of the gods: wherever there is a sacred place it was a place of music and chant. The purpose of music and chant was to alter our brainwave patterns, to take us away from the mundane and into the heavenly.”
