Typically, ephemeral aspects of material culture, such as gestures and sound, are often overlooked in the reconstruction of culture history which is unfortunate since sound-related artefacts offer clues to our understanding of practices and interactions between groups of individuals. With a music archaeological perspective, my research discusses aerophones recovered from the G-752Rj site in the southern portion of the Greater Nicoya archaeological region associated with pre-Columbian Tempisque (500 B.C. to A.D. 300) communities. I examine variation and/or consistency within the production, consumption, and deposition of these instruments to investigate intra-site micro-scale levels of community of practice. I propose an innovative approach at identifying communities of practice by analyzing sound and gestures within an instrument’s construction. / Graduate / 2017-08-08 / 0324 / 0336 / 0986 / katrina.kosyk@mail.mcgill.ca

Based on the geographical distribution of the unearthed musical instruments and their archaeo-cultural considerations, I first examine musical cultures of the Shang and Zhou dynasties in the seven-regions of Central Plain, Northwest, North, East, Southwest, South, and Southeast, each of which showed affinity to some particular political unit (state), ethnicity and social organization of the archaeological culture. Through regional and cross-regional analysis of the shape, composite and musical features of the instruments and their contemporary cultural significance, I argue that the Shang and Zhou musical cultures were primarily originated and developed in multiple cultural contexts along the Yellow River and Yangtse River areas. Among the seven regions, the Central Plain region occupied a dominant position. The other regions of musical culture developed independently but maintained close cultural interaction with the Central Plain region. / Lastly, I discuss the ritual-music function of the instruments in the formation of ritual-music system, the condition of the owners and players of the instruments, and the compositive set of ritual bronze vessels and instruments. I conclude that the social function of musical instruments in the Shang and Zhou dynasties had actually gone beyond music performance itself. They had functions of performing music, executing sacrifice, and symbolizing the socio-political status and ranks of individuals. / This dissertation is an archaeo-musicological study on unearthed musical instruments of the Shang (1600 B.C.--1046 B.C.) and Western Zhou (1046 B.C.--771 B.C.) dynasties in China. Using the unearthed musical instruments in conjunction with other related archaeological findings and ancient Chinese documents, I discuss issues relating to the multi-structure and social function of these instruments within their socio-historical contexts. / Using the textual information from oracle bone inscriptions, bronze inscriptions, and Chinese classical texts, I explore the functions of the unearthed musical instruments in terms of sacrificial activities and the Liyue (ritual-music) system. I identify four types of excavation (dwellings, sacrificial pits, hoards, and tombs) to elucidate the relationship between sacrificial activities and musical instruments. I then discuss the metaphor of the instruments' decorations and the use of instruments in the ritual activities such as praying for rain and ancestral cult. / 方建軍. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2005. / 參考文獻(p. 277-316). / Adviser: Tsao Poon Yee. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-07, Section: A, page: 2380. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts also in English. / School code: 1307. / Lun wen (Zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2005. / Can kao wen xian (p. 277-316). / Fang Jianjun.

This study elevates the importance of experience, the senses and tacit knowledge in relation to archaeology with a focus on music. With this I take up a thread drawing on theoretical aspects of Polanyi’s ‘Tacit Dimension’ and ‘Ingold’s Lines’.  I review paradigms in experimental archaeology and music archaeology, and the subject of reconstruction in both.  My case study is of four individuals, whose reconstruction models are connected to artefacts perceived as flutes in the archaeological record and/or notions of prehistoric flutes.  Combining the way in which we learn by understanding others’ experiences through gesture and experience as data, my work examines these ideas in relation to wanting to find out about these flute-making people, and how their work is related to the canon of archaeology to which one might expect that it belongs, and if we can call this a tradition.  What I found was that the praxis is complex and far reaching and stretches into various ontologies through philosophy, religion, emotionalism, intellectualism, symbolism, music, tradition, imagination, experience, sensation and identity, where interrelations of the past, present and future are very evident.  I finally consider archaeology as an art which reveals parallels between archaeology itself and music.  Paradigms in archaeologies in 2013 do not effectively support this praxis of flute making despite contextual experimentation showing welcoming promise for future change.

The aulos was the most important wind instrument in the ancient Greek world. In this thesis, the eight pre-Hellenistic graves in which auloi have been found are investigated with the aim of understanding auloi as grave goods. To achieve this aim, the eight burial assemblages are analysed and compared to each other, but also to the burial assemblages of other graves with musical instruments. In the ensuing discussion, the move from empirical analysis to explanatory reasoning is made, and it is concluded that the auloi found in graves reflect the musical activities of the deceased. Given the composition of the burial assemblages, it is suggested that these activities should be considered as a part of the well-educated background of the deceased, rather than as an indication of professional musicianship. / Musikinstrumentet aulos var det viktigaste blåsinstrumentet i den antika grekiska världen. I den här uppsatsen undersöks de åtta förhellenistiska gravar där auloi har påträffats. Syftet med undersökningen är att förstå auloi i egenskap av gravgåvor. För att uppnå detta syfte analyseras och jämförs de åtta gravarnas sammansättningar av gravgåvor med varandra, men även med sammansättningar från andra samtida gravar med musikinstrument. I den diskussion som följer övergår uppsatsen från empirisk analys till ett förklarande resonemang, vilket leder fram till slutsatsen att de auloi som påträffats i gravar återspeglar de avlidnas musikaliska verksamhet. Med tanke på gravarnas sammansättning föreslås det att denna verksamhet bör betraktas som en del av de avlidnas välutbildade bakgrund, snarare än som en indikation på yrkesverksamhet inom musik.

Includes bibliographical references / Pages not numbered / Music has formed a part of human life as far back as demonstrable. Music existed long before musical instruments made their appearance. The examination of textual evidence read in conjunction with the available archaeologic evidence from the time and area clearly demonstrates which musical instruments were available and the instances they were used at. It clearly points to the lyre as the primary proponent of the musical culture of the time with regards to melodic music. This is confirmed from what we learn from the ancient tuning tablets. There thus is a direct demonstrable connection between the instrument and the theory of the time. Work done on the musical elements of the cantillation marks of the Hebrew Bible comfortably fits into this framework and appears to be a direct influence on the manner in which the Psalms were sung and composed. A combination of literary, archaeological and musical sources can thus be used within a literary and historical approach to demonstrate the availability of musical instruments in AIP, the manner in which tonality was recorded and its influence on the development of the Psalms. / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / M.A. (Biblical Archaeology)