Research
Exploring Sound and Light
For over thirty years, Aaron has explored the remarkable legacy left by Neolithic and Bronze Age communities in Britain and Ireland. They shaped the landscape, built extraordinary monuments such as chambered cairns, stone circles, and sculpted enigmatic rock. Who made these places? How were they used and understood? And why do they continue to resonate so vividly and meaningfully today?
Bringing together archaeology, experimentation, and creative practice, Aaron’s work seeks to reanimate these ancient places. He is probably best known for exploring their acoustic, optical, and spatial qualities. Aaron shares his discoveries through a YouTube channel, books, journals, research papers, and exhibitions across the UK and further afield, as well as through radio and television archaeology programmes.
Archaeoacoustics
Exploring how sound shaped the experience of Neolithic monuments and landscapes.
Since noticing unusual echoes at Easter Aquhorthies in 1995, Aaron has worked with acousticians Dr David Keating and Dr John Was to investigate the acoustic behaviour of stone circles, passage tombs and carved chambers across Britain and Ireland. Although each monument is architecturally distinct, many share the ability to generate striking, sometimes unexpected sound effects — echoes that respond to the visitor, resonances that alter the voice, and acoustic contrasts that divide insiders from outsiders.
These effects can still be heard and measured today, but the deeper aim is to understand how sound may have contributed to the monuments’ original meaning. In the Neolithic, sound could shape gatherings, create a sense of spectacle or secrecy, and perhaps even influencing altered states of consciousness.
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Archaeo-optics
Exploring light, projection, and perception inside prehistoric monuments
‘Archaeo-optics’ is a research collaboration between Aaron, Ronnie Scott, and Matt Gatton. It explores how people in the past may have manipulated, experienced, and understood light.
Since 2012, Aaron has conducted experimental fieldwork at numerous Neolithic chambered monuments, revealing that these spaces can generate moving, colourful optical projections reminiscent of cinematography.
A remarkable variety of dynamic effects have been observed and, where possible, recorded: beams of light, blazing orbs, spectral figures, and luminous animated images of landscapes and people.
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