Rhythmic movements with sound effects: Stone Age hunters and gatherers in today’s northwestern Russia once danced to the rattling sound of elk-tooth followers. This suggests the results of an experimental study in which archaeologists compared the wear marks on the Stone Age moose tooth pendants with those of replicas that they previously used in rattling “dance experiments”.
All over the world people have used animal teeth as ornamental or symbolic elements since time immemorial. One of the sites that provide impressive evidence of this is a burial ground on the small island of Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov in Lake Onega in the Russian Republic of Karelia. A hunter-gatherer people buried their dead there around 8,200 years ago with items of clothing, some of which were lavishly decorated with tooth pendants. These were the incisors of moose (Alces alces). Although no remains of the clothing materials have survived, their use is evident from their location in the area of the skeletons: They were therefore attached to apron-like accessories, some of which contained up to 300 individual teeth.
Dancing for archeology
As part of their current study, the archaeologists working with Riitta Rainio from the University of Helsinki investigated the assumption that the ornaments not only had a visual meaning, but also an audible one: did they perhaps fulfill the function of a rattle in dances? To shed light on this question, the scientists conducted experimental archeology: Raino moved rhythmically while wearing replicas of the Stone Age moose tooth accessories. This led to sound effects that made the researchers’ assumption plausible: the rhythmic beating of the teeth produced a sound that is similar to that of rattles, as they are still used today in some musical styles.
“The elk-tooth ornaments sewn onto the clothing emit a powerful rattling noise when they move,” says Rainio. The sound can be clear and bright or particularly loud and sudden – depending on the number and quality of the teeth and the intensity of the movement, says the researcher. “If you wear such rattles while dancing, sound, rhythm and movement begin to combine,” reports Rainio of her experiences with the dance experiments.
Characteristic wear and tear
But the scientists were not satisfied with these sensory cues – they also supported their assumption through analyzes: Rainio danced a total of six hours with the replicas of the moose tooth accessories. The scientists then used microscopic examinations to record the traces that the rhythmic clashing had caused on the teeth. The features were then compared with those of finds from the graves of Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov.
The researchers found characteristic similarities between the teeth worn out by the experimental dancing and the Stone Age finds. These are traces of comparable activities, say the scientists. At least it becomes clear that the elk tooth accessories were worn before the burial of the dead. The marks on the Stone Age teeth, however, were deeper and more extensive than on the test teeth, which reflects a longer duration of use. “With Stone Age teeth likely to have been worn for years or even decades, it’s no surprise that the wear and tear is so pronounced,” says co-author Evgeny Girya – an archaeologist from the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg who specializes in micro-traces.
“The moose tooth rattles are fascinating because they can convey a thousand-year-old background noise and the emotional rhythms that people probably felt back then: You can close your eyes, listen to the sound and go out into the world through the sound waves to a campfire by the lake of Stone Age hunters and gatherers, ”says senior author Kristiina Mannermaa from the University of Helsinki.
Source: Helsinki University