The Acoustic and Auditory Contexts of Human Behavior

Abstract

Sound is a crucial component of the human communicative toolkit (Cross and Woodruff 2009); however, as a topic of research, it has been relatively neglected in archaeological method and theory. We propose that a framework requires to be developed in which inferences can be made about the significance of sound in the past that are not bounded by the particularities of current cultural contexts. Such a framework should be multidisciplinary and draw on what is known scientifically about human sensitivities to and uses of sound, including nonverbal vocalizations, speech and music, ethological studies which offer insight into how sound perception and environment affect sociality and survival, and the effects of environment on socially significant human sound.