Why A Musician Breathed New Life Into a 17,000-Year-Old Conch Shell Horn
A seashell found in a French cave appears to have been modified by prehistoric people so that it could be used like a trumpet, making it a new addition to the Stone Age orchestra.
by Nell Greenfieldboyce
Feb 10, 2021
3 minutes
A horn made from a conch shell over 17,000 years ago has blasted out musical notes for the first time in millennia.
Archaeologists originally found the seashell in 1931, in a French cave that contains prehistoric wall paintings. They speculated that the cave's past occupants had used the shell as a ceremonial cup for shared drinks, and that a hole in its tip was just accidental damage.
But some researchers have now concluded something different--the shell, which has been sitting in a museum for decades, was actuallyheir high-tech analyses in the journal .
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