Monday, June 30, 2008

The Sounds of a Culture

Here is an interesting article on the sounds of the Aztecs and Mayas. In the article it is observed that archeologists tend to treat ancient cultures as if they were "deaf ad mute." Indeed, we tend to forget a lot of the daily goings-on in now-dead cultures -- even with the current interest in daily life among historians. In a poetry discussion group, the ignorance about the importance of poetry in older cultures is astounding. They seem ignorant of wandering bards and raconteurs, that the first poetry was sung and acted as a way to carry cultural and religious beliefs from place to place, and across time. This, too, was part of the cacophony of life in the past.

What will future archeologists understand about our sounds? What could we now say about them?

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