Needle case, sound instrument or something else? A worked and ornamented swan (Cygnus sp.) ulna from a Late Mesolithic male burial, Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov, Northwest Russia
The focus of this article is an analysis of tubular bone items made by cutting off the epiphyses of large bird ulnae, such as those found in burials 67 and 69 at Late Mesolithic Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov (Lake Onega, Northwest Russia). The bone tube from grave 69 was studied systematically, and tested t...
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2021
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ftunivhelsihelda:oai:helda.helsinki.fi:10138/328097 2024-01-07T09:45:35+01:00 Needle case, sound instrument or something else? A worked and ornamented swan (Cygnus sp.) ulna from a Late Mesolithic male burial, Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov, Northwest Russia Mannermaa, Kristiina Rainio, Riitta Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS) Department of Cultures Archaeology 2021-03-16T22:53:37Z 9 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10138/328097 eng eng Elsevier Scientific Publ. Co 10.1016/j.quaint.2020.02.032 Mannermaa , K & Rainio , R 2020 , ' Needle case, sound instrument or something else? A worked and ornamented swan (Cygnus sp.) ulna from a Late Mesolithic male burial, Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov, Northwest Russia ' , Quaternary International , vol. 543 , pp. 34-42 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2020.02.032 ORCID: /0000-0003-0995-3900/work/78840524 ORCID: /0000-0002-8510-1120/work/78841085 d05291d4-aeb0-498c-972c-820344d41876 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/328097 000540482100005 cc_by_nc_nd openAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess 615 History and Archaeology 1171 Geosciences 6131 Theatre dance music other performing arts Article acceptedVersion 2021 ftunivhelsihelda 2023-12-14T00:08:34Z The focus of this article is an analysis of tubular bone items made by cutting off the epiphyses of large bird ulnae, such as those found in burials 67 and 69 at Late Mesolithic Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov (Lake Onega, Northwest Russia). The bone tube from grave 69 was studied systematically, and tested to determine whether it could have been used as a sound instrument. In order to do so, we made a replica of the object, and tested its functions as a flute and a reed pipe. More generally, we propose alternatives to conventional and somewhat unimaginative interpretations of tubular bone artefacts. We raise awareness of their possible acoustic dimension, and discuss the outlook, structure, function and uses of simple bone flutes, whistles and reed pipes, highlighting their most common role as decoy whistles or animal calls. Blown instruments should be kept in mind when looking for explanations of tubular bone artefacts. Sound tools, and especially decoy whistles or animal calls, were common and necessary implements used everywhere and throughout all time periods, especially among hunters and fowlers, and should be considered a basic part of the bone tool assemblage. Peer reviewed Article in Journal/Newspaper Northwest Russia HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository Oleniy ENVELOPE(87.951,87.951,67.489,67.489) Oleniy Ostrov ENVELOPE(32.660,32.660,66.704,66.704) Onega ENVELOPE(38.100,38.100,63.900,63.900) Quaternary International 543 34 42 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivhelsihelda |
language |
English |
topic |
615 History and Archaeology 1171 Geosciences 6131 Theatre dance music other performing arts |
spellingShingle |
615 History and Archaeology 1171 Geosciences 6131 Theatre dance music other performing arts Mannermaa, Kristiina Rainio, Riitta Needle case, sound instrument or something else? A worked and ornamented swan (Cygnus sp.) ulna from a Late Mesolithic male burial, Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov, Northwest Russia |
topic_facet |
615 History and Archaeology 1171 Geosciences 6131 Theatre dance music other performing arts |
description |
The focus of this article is an analysis of tubular bone items made by cutting off the epiphyses of large bird ulnae, such as those found in burials 67 and 69 at Late Mesolithic Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov (Lake Onega, Northwest Russia). The bone tube from grave 69 was studied systematically, and tested to determine whether it could have been used as a sound instrument. In order to do so, we made a replica of the object, and tested its functions as a flute and a reed pipe. More generally, we propose alternatives to conventional and somewhat unimaginative interpretations of tubular bone artefacts. We raise awareness of their possible acoustic dimension, and discuss the outlook, structure, function and uses of simple bone flutes, whistles and reed pipes, highlighting their most common role as decoy whistles or animal calls. Blown instruments should be kept in mind when looking for explanations of tubular bone artefacts. Sound tools, and especially decoy whistles or animal calls, were common and necessary implements used everywhere and throughout all time periods, especially among hunters and fowlers, and should be considered a basic part of the bone tool assemblage. Peer reviewed |
author2 |
Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS) Department of Cultures Archaeology |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mannermaa, Kristiina Rainio, Riitta |
author_facet |
Mannermaa, Kristiina Rainio, Riitta |
author_sort |
Mannermaa, Kristiina |
title |
Needle case, sound instrument or something else? A worked and ornamented swan (Cygnus sp.) ulna from a Late Mesolithic male burial, Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov, Northwest Russia |
title_short |
Needle case, sound instrument or something else? A worked and ornamented swan (Cygnus sp.) ulna from a Late Mesolithic male burial, Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov, Northwest Russia |
title_full |
Needle case, sound instrument or something else? A worked and ornamented swan (Cygnus sp.) ulna from a Late Mesolithic male burial, Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov, Northwest Russia |
title_fullStr |
Needle case, sound instrument or something else? A worked and ornamented swan (Cygnus sp.) ulna from a Late Mesolithic male burial, Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov, Northwest Russia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Needle case, sound instrument or something else? A worked and ornamented swan (Cygnus sp.) ulna from a Late Mesolithic male burial, Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov, Northwest Russia |
title_sort |
needle case, sound instrument or something else? a worked and ornamented swan (cygnus sp.) ulna from a late mesolithic male burial, yuzhniy oleniy ostrov, northwest russia |
publisher |
Elsevier Scientific Publ. Co |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10138/328097 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(87.951,87.951,67.489,67.489) ENVELOPE(32.660,32.660,66.704,66.704) ENVELOPE(38.100,38.100,63.900,63.900) |
geographic |
Oleniy Oleniy Ostrov Onega |
geographic_facet |
Oleniy Oleniy Ostrov Onega |
genre |
Northwest Russia |
genre_facet |
Northwest Russia |
op_relation |
10.1016/j.quaint.2020.02.032 Mannermaa , K & Rainio , R 2020 , ' Needle case, sound instrument or something else? A worked and ornamented swan (Cygnus sp.) ulna from a Late Mesolithic male burial, Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov, Northwest Russia ' , Quaternary International , vol. 543 , pp. 34-42 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2020.02.032 ORCID: /0000-0003-0995-3900/work/78840524 ORCID: /0000-0002-8510-1120/work/78841085 d05291d4-aeb0-498c-972c-820344d41876 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/328097 000540482100005 |
op_rights |
cc_by_nc_nd openAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
container_title |
Quaternary International |
container_volume |
543 |
container_start_page |
34 |
op_container_end_page |
42 |
_version_ |
1787427140346576896 |