Stonehenge and Other Megaliths are Mind Altering Acoustical Devices

December 17, 2013 / esfein / 2 Comments

Talk about Stonehenge: a great place to jam out! http://pintaw.com/

Studies spanning decades have revealed that Stonehenge and other ancient megalithic structures and tombs may have been used to create music and various mind altering sounds. These studies represent a relatively new theory to explain what megalithic structures like Stonehenge were used for, and how important they were to early humans. They have also created a new field of study called archaeoacoustics, the study of the acoustical properties of archaeological sites.

According to authors Steven Brown, Björn Merker, and Nils L. Wallin in their book The Origins of Music,

The language-centered view of humanity has to be expanded to include music, first, because the evolution of language is highly intertwined with the evolution of music, and, second, because music provides a specific and direct means of exploring the evolution of human social structure, group function, and cultural behavior. Music making is the quintessential human cultural activity, and music is an ubiquitous element in all cultures large and small.

Music plays a much larger role in the history and evolution of humanity than we normally give it credit for. So, maybe it isn’t so far fetched that early humans dragged 25 ton stones over 100 miles just to create Stonehenge and jam out. This is the conclusion that researchers from the Royal College of Art in London are beginning to entertain.

In 2006 Paul Devereux and Jon Wozencroft began testing rocks with digital field sound recorders in hand. They focused most closely on rocks found at a site called Carn Menyn in South-West Wales, where archaeologists believe many of the blue stones used to create Stonehenge and other similar megalithic structures in the area came from. The researchers stated that,

Because it would be impractical to attempt to acoustically test all the thousands of individual rocks involved, our methodology was to conduct percussion tests using small hammerstones on many rocks (over a thousand in all) in organized transects at points along the Carn Menyn ridge. From this we could make an informed estimate of the incidence of ringing rocks.

While not all of the stones at Stonehenge they tested “rang,” or made various drum, gong, and bell-like sounds when struck, a surprising number did. The variation in the sounds that the rocks can make is incredible. After having a listen it is very easy to imagine our ancestors creating ritualistic music or just killing time by jamming on the gigantic monoliths.

It was inevitable that the researchers would test the stones at Stonehenge. They expected all potential sound to be muted due to a lack of air space around each stone. The results, however, surprised them, as they were still able to play the monoliths like giant xylophones. Amazingly, archaeologists have reproduced the results of this study many times at various sites around the world, even in ancient crypts in Greece. Some researchers have even created reproductions of what ancient Lithoacoustic (music created from stones) songs may have sounded like.

Time to swallow some cactus and trip out at the local megalith! http://www.megalithic.co.uk/

Research into archaeoacoustics jumps down the rabbit hole via a further field of study called psychoacoustics, a branch of psychophysics which deals with physiological and psychological responses to sound. Studies performed at an ancient site called Chavín de Huántar in Peru have revealed that ancients intentionally constructed sites to enhance the psychoactive effects of the San Pedro cactus, and to intensify psychedelic and ritualistic experiences. Ancients constructed their sites with such precision that a single hand clap while standing on a central staircase sounds identical to a quetzal bird. Additionally, areas of the sites were specifically constructed so that shadows produced by sunlight outside of the structure would create incredibly psychedelic shadows and effects when perceived by an ancient. According to Miriam Kolar, a researcher at Stanford University’s Center for Computer Research and Acoustics,

These structures, unlike those at Stonehenge, could be physically disorienting and the acoustic environment is very different than the natural world. The iconography shows people mixed with animal features in altered states of being. There is peyote and mucus trails out of the nose indicative of people using psychoactive plant substances. They were taking drugs and having a hallucinogenic experience.

Related Article: Music’s Grand Effect on the Mind

Mayans and other ancients were the original hippies, superior to hippies in that they appear to have empirically explored the psychological and physiological effects of sound and imagery on the observer. Right now we can only imagine what those at Stonehenge experienced during their jam sessions.

If you are interested in experiencing the effects that specific sound frequencies can have on your mind and body, check out binaural beats, which are tones that affect the way our brains function and process thoughts and information in various ways. Through the use of binaural beats, simply listening to a particular frequency can induce states of incredible calm, stimulation, or even heightened awareness. I recommend this playlist of different frequencies to experience the profound effects of these sound vibrations on the mind and body.

Screw mediation, let’s just listen to these audio files and go deeper than Gautama! http://www.binauralbeatsfreak.com/

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeoacoustics

http://books.google.com/books?id=vYQEakqM4I0C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2515159/Why-Stonehenge-prehistoric-centre-rock-music-Stones-sound-like-bells-drums-gongs-played.html

http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/073/Ant0730325.htm

http://invenio.lib.auth.gr/record/124480

http://www-personal.mus.cam.ac.uk/~ic108/lithoacoustics/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoacoustics

https://ccrma.stanford.edu/groups/chavin/kolardissertation.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzal

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/40215802/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/acoustic-archaeology-yielding-mind-tripping-tricks/#.UqjDC_RDtk0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binaural_beats

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3D3E88FF8078B4C4

Belly Buttons: Bacteria Wonderland!

March 17, 2013 / esfein / 1 Comment

Petri dishes of belly button bacteria
Photo Credit: Neil McCoy

A recent study published in PLOS ONE has guided us to a greater knowledge of which bacteria are commonly found in belly buttons. The Smithsonian article on the study sums it up pretty well, saying:

A team of researchers dug into 60 different people’s belly buttons and turned up bacterial diversity and microbial mystery. All in all, they identified more than 2,000 species of bacteria as well as two species of archaea, the ancient predecessors of bacteria. Some of the species frequently occurred in multiple belly buttons, while others were confined to just a few participants.

Microbe World, a website dedicated to promoting awareness and understanding of key microbiological issues, gives a little insight as to where archaea are normally found stating that:

Archaea comes from the Greek word meaning “ancient.” An appropriate name, because many archaea thrive in conditions mimicking those found more than 3.5 billion years ago. Back then, the earth was still covered by oceans that regularly reached the boiling point — an extreme condition not unlike the hydrothermal vents and sulfuric waters where archaea are found today.

Some scientists consider archaea living fossils that may provide hints about what the earliest life forms on Earth were like, and how life evolved on our planet.

So, various bacteria, including previously unknown bacteria, and two archaea were found in a small range of North American belly buttons. But the researchers aren’t finished yet. In a guest blog on Scientific American, Rob Dunn, the study’s lead author, talks of a future research plan saying:

Instead of the 66 samples we included in our first paper, or the 300 we have now, we will soon have over 600 samples of people processed, people from all over North America. With this variety, we may well begin to explain the differences among people in terms of the intimate forests of their umbilicus. On the other hand, we may still be unable to account for our differences; it may be that part of what determines who lives on you is stochastic, a fancy scientific word for what happens when fate and the universe’s contingencies come together in your navel.

Carl Zimmer, another scientist working with the project talks of his results in a blog post on the Discover website. He had a very diverse spread of bacteria in his belly button and 17 bacteria that were not found in any of the other subjects.

I know that diversity can make ecosystems work better. One of the most important services that our microbial ecosystem performs for us is protecting us from pathogens. They can outcompete invaders, kill them with poisons, and otherwise ward them off. Scientists have run experiments to test the effect of diversity on infections. They manipulated mice so that some had no resident bacteria, and others had low levels of diversity. The researchers found that pathogens did a better job of invading low-diversity mice than high-diversity ones.

Several of the bacteria found in people’s navels had never been found on humans before and Zimmer discusses some of the bacteria found in his navel in his blog post saying:

Several species I’ve got, such as Marimonas, have only been found in the ocean before. I am particular baffled that I carry a species called Georgenia. Before me, scientists had only found it living in the soil.

In Japan.

Belly buttons aren’t the only place where thriving biomes are being discovered. Scientists have discovered a mobile ecosystem that lives in freezing temperatures. The world is so intriguing! Life is everywhere!

Sources and Extra Reading for the Curious:

PLOS ONE- A Jungle in There: Bacteria in Belly Buttons are Highly Diverse, but Predictable

The Smithsonian- A Flourishing Microbial Community Dwells Within Your Belly Button

The Scientist- Navel Bugs

Microbe World- Archaea

Scientific American – After 2 Years Scientists Still Can’t Solve Belly Button Mystery, Continue Navel-Gazing

Discover- Discovering my microbiome: “You, my friend, are a wonderland”

Wondergressive- The Secret World of Bacteria

Wondergressive- New Ecosystem Discovered: Glacier Mice

Wondergressive- Life, It’s All Over the Place

Wondergressive- 2800 Year Old Lake Life Survives in Complete Isolation

Virgin Births in Wild Snakes

September 23, 2012 / esfein / Leave a comment

Researchers have discovered virgin births occurring in two types of wild species of snakes. Although virgin births, or facultative parthenogenesis, has been observed in many types of animals including chickens, sharks, lizards, and birds, it has always occurred with animals in captivity. These animals were kept away from males of their species, and the asexual birth was seen as an evolutionary necessity.

The strangest part of the virgin births is the frequency. It was found to occur 2.5 – 5% of the time in the wild, a number that is far more than just an evolutionary novelty. Although asexual birth is common in species like ants and aphids, researchers are still unsure why these virgin births occur so often in these snake species.

Women Have Semen in Their Brains

August 31, 2012 / esfein / Leave a comment

More specifically, a protien in semen penetrates the blood brain barrier and enters women’s brains, causing the hypothalamus and pituitary gland to release the hormones required for pregnancy. Apparently, semen causes women to ovulate.

Researchers have found that this protien exists in animals all over the world. Chinese researchers actually discovered the finding in 1985, but because it was so counter-intuitive to common knowledge at the time, scientists simply ignored it!

In 2005 a new group of researchers verified what had already been known for two decades by injecting semen into the leg of female llamas, part of a group of animals that only release eggs in response to sex.