Maya temple ruins in the Northern Group complex at Palenque, Mexico. [Photograph by Panoramic Images/National Geographic]
Posted on 12/30/2010 7:01:44 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Centuries before the first speakers and subwoofers, ancient Americans -- intentionally or not -- may have been turning buildings into giant sound amplifiers and distorters to enthrall or disorient audiences, archaeologists say.
Temples at the ancient Maya city of Palenque (map) in central Mexico, for example, might have formed a kind of "unplugged" public-address system, projecting sound across great distances, according to a team led by archaeologist Francisca Zalaquett of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
Zalaquett's team recently discovered that Palenque's Northern Group of public squares and temples -- built around roughly A.D. 600 -- is especially good at projecting the human voice as well as sounds like those that would have been made by musical instruments found at the site...
Performers and priests may have stood atop these temples or in specialized projection rooms, which still exist, to broadcast songs and chants throughout the squares. The Maya are known to have to held public rites to commemorate enthronements, births of nobles, and war victories as well as to honor deities, Zalaquett said.
The "amplifiers" would have been the buildings themselves, and their acoustics may have even been purposely enhanced by the strategic application of stucco coatings, Zalaquett's findings suggest. Measurements at some of the buildings still bearing stucco suggest it may have changed the absorption and reflection of sounds.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com ...
Maya temple ruins in the Northern Group complex at Palenque, Mexico. [Photograph by Panoramic Images/National Geographic]
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Jensen Tri-axel ping.
geeeeze, some ignorant acoustic archeological "engineers"
like... what other sounds, or what different frequencies would there be? Suppressing low frequency Oooobama fart?
But can you turn it up to “eleven?”
Probably used it to project the screams of their human sacrifices as they cut their beating hearts out of their chests, so everybody could enjoy.
Been there three times, once to see the serpent come down.
Need a fourth trip to see the Nunnery.
Horsecrap.
You say that like multiculturalism is a bad thing.
That was an Aztec thing, wasn't it? I know the Maya had all kinds of blood sacrifices (shoving a stingray barb through your genitalia is sure to generate some acoustics, btw), but did they do the chest cutting routine too?
From the recesses of my memory I recall that the bloody human sacrifices were part of the ritual throughout central America where wars between cities were religious experiences and the captives were taken to the winning city and ritually sacrificed.
I think the beating heart removal was common as well as beheadings followed by use of a severed head as a ball in something like a game of soccer.
Of course the losers were also sacrificed.
A good time had by all.
It is thought that the constant wars were a big contributing factor to the end of the civilization. You can only sacrifice so many peasants before there is nobody left to grow the corn.
I guess I'm suffering from severe brain lock. I knew they killed boat-loads of people, I know about the skull racks and chacmools and stuff. It was the technique they used that had me confused, but you're right - they were chest cutters, too.
They’ve described rock concerts.
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