Research Assistant in the archaeoacoustics of landscapes of Latin America and the former French colonies

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The ARTSOUNDSCAPES project deals with sound, rock art and sacred landscapes among past hunter-gatherers and early agricultural societies around the world. The potential of sound to stimulate powerful emotions makes it a common medium for conferring places with extraordinary agency. Ethnographic and ethnohistorical sources indicate that these sites are often endowed with a sacred significance and, in many cases, they also receive special treatment, including the production of rock paintings. Despite aural experience being an integral component of the human condition and a key element in ritual, archaeology has largely been unable to study it systematically. Rock art landscapes are no exception and, although some studies have been made, they have largely been reproached for their lack of scientific rigour and subjectivity. ARTSOUNDSCAPES will fully address this weakness by investigating the perception of sound in rock art landscapes from an interdisciplinary approach reflected in its five Research Lines:

• Research Line 1: Characterising the acoustic properties of rock art landscapes. Aim: to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the acoustic properties of a series of rock art landscapes around the world in order to acquire scientifically accurate data for surveying relationships between sonic effects, soundscape perception and the positioning of rock art.
• Research Line 2: The psychoacoustics of rock art landscapes. Aim: to examine the sensations evoked in people by sounds and how they relate to auditory interpretations and physically measurable quantities; to explore auditory perceptions such as echolocation and the augmented audibility and intelligibility of distant sounds.
• Research Line 3: Neuropsychology and emotion in rock art landscapes. Aim: to test whether stimulation of the brain with the sound recorded in RL1 can induce patterns of brain activity related to particular emotions such as those provoked by altered or mystical states
• Research Line 4: Ethnographic and ethnohistorical sources. Aim: to critically revise ethnohistorical and ethnographic records related to music and sound among hunter-gatherers and early agriculturalists and/or also, if agreed with the PI, of other type of societies in the world, and to look at the ethnographic variation in sacred beliefs associated with sound in these same societies.
• Research Line 5: Phenomenological analysis of sacred emotion and rock art soundscapes. Aim: to combine the results obtained in the previous lines and to attempt a phenomenological understanding of sacred soundscapes among late hunter-gatherers and early agriculturalists around the world.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES WILL INCLUDE:

• Work closely with the project PI, the Senior Post Doctoral Researcher(s) and the other teams members;
• Research on Research Line 4 (RL 4) especially in areas related to the acoustic of landscapes and ethnomusicology of 1/ Latin America, with a special emphasis in Mexico and Guatemala; 2/ the former French colonies.
• Collaborate with the PI and team members working in RL1, RL2 and RL3;
• Unless on fieldwork, attending meetings, conferences or travelling for archival and literature research allowed by the PI, a key responsibility of the researcher will be to work in the Department of History and Archaeology, University of Barcelona.

FUNCTIONS AND/OR TASKS OF THE POSITION

Related to the whole project

• Collaborate with the PI, the senior PD and other team members for all required tasks and RLs in the project.

Related to Research Line 4

in these two areas of the world: 1/ Latin America, with a special emphasis in Mexico and Guatemala; 2/ the former French colonies:

• Undertake archival and literature research into the cultural and religious meaning of the acoustics of landscapes in past and present communities
• Undertake archival and literature research into the use of music and musical instruments in past and present communities;
• Undertake archival and literature research into sound recordings made of acoustics and musical instruments in the past and present;
• Introduce the data in the project database to include the findings made during the archival and literature research, including the sound recordings.

Related to Research Line 1

• Actively assist in the post-processing of acoustic data acquired during fieldwork if needed by the project and required by the PI and/or the Senior Post-Doctoral Researcher(s).

Related to Research Lines 2 and 3

• Provide the necessary data for tests to be undertaken in RL2 and RL3 when required by the PI and/or the Senior Post-Doctoral Researcher(s);
• Assist the PI and the senior Post Doctoral Researcher(s) in ensuring that there is continuous, fluid and effective communication between RL2 and RL3 with the other project research lines aiming to, among other goals, produce joined-up academic work.

Outcomes

• Actively work in academic dissemination by assisting others in the writing of at least one article per year;
• Actively participate in one conference per year if agreed by the PI representing the ARTSOUNDSCAPES project;
• Actively participate in non-academic dissemination for wider audiences agreed by the PI.

   

Others

• Travel to undertake archival and literature research as needed;
• Perform other related duties as required

Acronym

ARTSOUNDSCAPES

FBG project number

402112

Project title

The sound of special places: exploring rock art soundscapes and the sacred

IP

Dr Margarita Díaz-Andreu García

Department

Història i Arqueologia

Gross salary per year

Negotiable between 6000 and 8000€

Required documents

Application letter in English

Curriculum vitae in English

2 academic reference letters

All these documents should to be sent to m.diaz-andreu@ub.edu by the deadline. Large documents may be sent by alternative media such as Hightail or similar. Please, ask for acknowledgement of receipt.

Send your application to:

email

m.diaz-andreu@ub.edu

Name

Prof. Dr Margarita Díaz-Andreu

email subject

Application for a Research Assistant position in the archaeoacoustics of landscapes of Latin America and the former French colonies