• Profile
• Archaeoacoustics
• Publications

• Introduction
• Avebury
• Stonehenge
• Ring of Brodgar
• Stones of
  Stenness
• Maeshowe
• Dwarfie Stane
• Standing Wave Resonance
• Huntersquoy & Taversoe Tuick
• Stalled Cairns of Orkney
• Easter Aquorthies
• Grey Cairns of Camster

Avebury

Avebury is consists of circular arrangements of standing stones that were collectively bounded by a large earthwork henge. Even though large areas of the site were re-construction in the 1930's, much of the interior remains poorly preserved. The proximity of the modern houses and the noise from roads further complicate acoustic fieldwork.

Acoustic research conducted here by John Crewdson has shown that sounds generated within the henge are contained by the earthen bank, and could not have been clearly heard from outside. Likewise, the interior would have been artificially quieter than the open landscape beyond, as sounds from the wider world are also blocked and filtered by the bank.

This sets up a clear distinction between the experiences of people. Anyone outside would have had very little knowledge of events within as they could neither clearly see or hear events in the interior.

Within Avebury's earthwork, there are features that direct and control sound. The three large monoliths of the Cove act to screen the movement of sound in some directions, while allowing it to project outwards through its open side. Perhaps this feature acted rather like a stage in a theatre, enabling voices or other sounds to be more audible from certain directions.

There are three stone circles inside Avebury, of which smaller Inner Circles are would have been the most acoustically dynamic. While it is difficult to measure this at Avebury today due to the presence of modern buildings, experiments at the Ring of Brodgar in Orkney have shown that circular arrangements of stones are effective at generating echoes. It has also been observed that the stones chosen for these Inner Circles were larger and broader than those used elsewhere, which would improve their potential to reflect sound.

One of the most interesting aspects of a circular spaces is the way in which echoes change dramatically in relation to the locations of the listener and the sound source. If both are close to the centre, sounds will be reflected simultaneously from all sides of the circle and return as a coherent echo that surrounds the listener. Away from the centre, echoes become indistinct as sounds are no longer reflected from all sides of the circle at the same time. This would have created an acoustic emphasis at the centres of these circles.

This is interesting as the centres of both Inner Circles at Avebury are marked by unusual stone features that were probably the focus for gatherings of people. The centre of the northern Inner Circle is marked by the Cove, while the centre of the southern Inner Circle was the setting for one of the largest stones at Avebury, the Obelisk, which has since been destroyed.