Foot drums

I wrote about rattles in an earlier post. There are many examples in museum collections of rattles made from various material, so their existence is evident. Foot Drums however, are a subject of some controversy. Some archaeologists propose that the rectangular pits in the 'great kivas' were covered with wooden platforms and the people would dance(?) on them. I used the (?) because 'dance' implies an art form or a secular celebration. I'm using it as merely the rhythmic movement of the feet. Also there are arguments that their use was for other purposes such storage bins, germinating beds for seedlings and who knows what else.

A possible foot drum in Chetro Ketl

   In the Bandelier NM backcountry is the 'Painted Cave', a natural amphitheater formed by volcanic tuff. This material is soft enough that one could dig into it with finger nails although the people who lived here most likely used stone tools for the task. The entire area is littered with small caves that provided living spaces.

Far view of Painted Cave                               Pictographs in Painted Cave

From the many drawings here this place must have been very special to the people. At the base of Painted Cave are smaller man made caves. Smaller but still very large with floors of solid tuff. Unlike the caves used for living spaces these caves are completely open in the front giving little protection from the elements, but they do project any sound that is created inside.

Walking on the floors created a resonant sound that was nearly a half of a second in length. Stepping harder, faster and creating different rhythm patterns the sound could be easily heard over 100 feet from the cave. We visited Painted Cave in the early 1970's, well before I even heard of the word archaeoacoustics nor did I have the ability to record the sounds. I can't help but think that the people used these smaller grottos for ceremonial purposes that involved music and dance.