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The catacombs, burial sites for early Christians, were constructed during the Roman Empire until the Christian religion was recognized in 313 AD. The catacombs were cementeries, which were organized according to precise rules and were dug into the ground on several levels, to occupy as little space as possible. The catacombs became places of worship as martyrs were buried in them. The catacombs were then abandoned with the barbarian invasions and the consequent construction of churches inside cities. The catacombs were rediscovered during the Renaissance period and became a place of renewed worship. In the present work, the acoustic characteristics of the catacombs of San Callisto in Rome, San Gennaro in Naples, and Vigna Cassia in Syracuse are discussed. The three selected catacombs differ by type of excavation and geometry. In particular, the catacombs of San Callisto are made of narrow corridors and small rooms; the catacombs of San Gennaro consist of large rooms with niches; the catacombs of Vigna Cassia are partly excavated in the tuff and partially occupy a disused aqueduct. The acoustic measurements were performed using an impulsive sound source. The description of the acoustic characteristics focuses on the reverberation time and the Speech Transmission Index. The results show that the reverberation time was always shorter than 1 second, confirming the reduced reverberation of these environments. Finally, the speech listening characteristics are particularly good, ensuring the suitable conditions for the prayer in these spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To a first-order approximation we can place most worship services on a continuum between clarity and mystery, depending on the setting and content of the service. This liturgical space can be thought of as a combination of the physical acoustics of the worship space and the qualities of the sound created during the worship service. A very clear acoustic channel emphasizes semantic content, especially speech intelligibility. An immersive, reverberant acoustic emphasizes mystery and music. One of the chief challenges in acoustical design is the fact that both clarity and immersion are subjectively preferred by audiences, yet these two goals are almost mutually exclusive of one another. The movement along this continuum in liturgical space can also be seen in the religious contexts for many of the worship spaces constructed in the West in the last two millennia. In the case of religious ceremony, a free field acoustic environment provides more clarity and precision in the spoken word received from God and given to the congregation. Yet a diffuse field environment provides an embodied, otherworldly sense of the supernatural: the mystery of the faith received which cannot merely be put into words. This tension is perceptible in many of the religious controversies in the West during this time period. This article examines the history of the spaces used by early Western Catholic Christians as well as those of the traditions—Lutheran and Calvinist—that left the Catholic faith during the 16th century Reformation. By considering the stated goals of these traditions alongside the architectural and liturgical innovations they created, it can be seen that emergent liturgical spaces mirror the assumptions of their respective traditions regarding the proper balance between semantic and aesthetic communication during the worship service. The Reformed faiths' emphasis on the power of the Word is reflected in the liturgical space of their services, while the Catholic faith gave greater priority to the role of Mystery, in their liturgical space as well as their explicit theology. Once constructed, these spaces also aid the cultural transmission of the sung or spoken liturgy of each tradition to future generations.

To a first-order approximation we can place most worship services on a continuum between clarity and mystery, depending on the setting and content of the service. This liturgical space can be thought of as a combination of the physical acoustics of the worship space and the qualities of the sound created during the worship service. A very clear acoustic channel emphasizes semantic content, especially speech intelligibility. An immersive, reverberant acoustic emphasizes mystery and music. One of the chief challenges in acoustical design is the fact that both clarity and immersion are subjectively preferred by audiences, yet these two goals are almost mutually exclusive of one another. The movement along this continuum in liturgical space can also be seen in the religious contexts for many of the worship spaces constructed in the West in the last two millennia. In the case of religious ceremony, a free field acoustic environment provides more clarity and precision in the spoken word received from God and given to the congregation. Yet a diffuse field environment provides an embodied, otherworldly sense of the supernatural: the mystery of the faith received which cannot merely be put into words. This tension is perceptible in many of the religious controversies in the West during this time period. This article examines the history of the spaces used by early Western Catholic Christians as well as those of the traditions—Lutheran and Calvinist—that left the Catholic faith during the 16th century Reformation. By considering the stated goals of these traditions alongside the architectural and liturgical innovations they created, it can be seen that emergent liturgical spaces mirror the assumptions of their respective traditions regarding the proper balance between semantic and aesthetic communication during the worship service. The Reformed faiths' emphasis on the power of the Word is reflected in the liturgical space of their services, while the Catholic faith gave greater priority to the role of Mystery, in their liturgical space as well as their explicit theology. Once constructed, these spaces also aid the cultural transmission of the sung or spoken liturgy of each tradition to future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the acoustic characteristics of the ancient Roman theatre of Cassino are discussed. The theatre was built during the Imperial Age and was abandoned and destroyed after the Barbaric invasions. The theatre has been rebuilt in recent years and it is currently used for summer events ad performance. To measure the acoustic characteristics of this ancient theatre, the authors used a spherical omnidirectional sound source placed on the stage and in the orchestra. The results show that nowadays the theatre has a short reverberation time equal to 0.6 seconds due to the lack of the stage wall, which has not been rebuilt. The weak sound strength justifies the use of electro-acoustic amplification systems which during the summer season, are adopted to improve the acoustic experience in this ancient theatre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main problem presented in the article is archeoacoustics understood as a modern subdiscipline of archeology. The aim of the research was to outline the theoretical map of ideological references used by this young, still developing field. In order to understand the complex interdisciplinary nature of the archeoacoustic approach, ideological concepts were indicated and described, which, starting from various research assumptions, reflected on the role and methods of the impact of the sound in culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early modern humans developed mental capabilities that were immeasurably greater than those of non-human primates. We see this in the rapid innovation in tool making, the development of complex language, and the creation of sophisticated art forms, none of which we find in our closest relatives. While we can readily observe the results of this high-order cognitive capacity, it is difficult to see how it could have developed. We take up the topic of cave art and archeoacoustics, particularly the discovery that cave art is often closely connected to the acoustic properties of the cave chambers in which it is found. Apparently, early modern humans were able to detect the way sound reverberated in these chambers, and they painted artwork on surfaces that were acoustic “hot spots,” i.e., suitable for generating echoes. We argue that cave art is a form of cross-modality information transfer, in which acoustic signals are transformed into symbolic visual representations. This form of information transfer across modalities is an instance of how the symbolic mind of early modern humans was taking shape into concrete, externalized language. We also suggest that the earliest rock art found in Africa may constitute one of the first fossilized proxies for the expression of full-fledged human linguistic behavior.

Early modern humans developed mental capabilities that were immeasurably greater than those of non-human primates. We see this in the rapid innovation in tool making, the development of complex language, and the creation of sophisticated art forms, none of which we find in our closest relatives. While we can readily observe the results of this high-order cognitive capacity, it is difficult to see how it could have developed. We take up the topic of cave art and archeoacoustics, particularly the discovery that cave art is often closely connected to the acoustic properties of the cave chambers in which it is found. Apparently, early modern humans were able to detect the way sound reverberated in these chambers, and they painted artwork on surfaces that were acoustic "hot spots," i.e., suitable for generating echoes. We argue that cave art is a form of cross-modality information transfer, in which acoustic signals are transformed into symbolic visual representations. This form of information transfer across modalities is an instance of how the symbolic mind of early modern humans was taking shape into concrete, externalized language. We also suggest that the earliest rock art found in Africa may constitute one of the first fossilized proxies for the expression of full-fledged human linguistic behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]