Soundways, Archaeology and the Byzantine Acoustic

The material remains of Byzantine sites and buildings offer opportunities for archaeologists to record and reconstruct important visual and tangible components of space and place.

More elusive, yet equally important, are the intangible elements of sensory environments that once permeated all aspects of life but have now disappeared without a trace.

I confront the issue of sound as a neglected arena for discovering undercurrents of human interaction of the Byzantines with their immediate surroundings. Acoustics of standing structures form the basis of my analysis, although perceptions of sound (from literary sources) and study cases of interaction with reverberant spaces – both past and present – offer potential inroads into a basic understanding of sound’s heretofore ignored yet crucial role within Byzantine society.

Papalexandrou is the Constantine George Georges and Sophia G. Georges Endowed Professor of Greek art and amp; Architecture at Stockton University