Listening to Dura Europos: An Experiment in Archaeological Image Sonification

• 1. Introduction: The Sound of Archaeological Vision
  • 1.1 Digital remediation and sound
  • 1.2 Listening is slow archaeology
  • 1.3 What should we be listening for?
  • 1.4 Recovering time
  • 1.5 The point
• 2. A Method for Image Sonification
• 3. Results
• 4. Discussion
• 5. Conclusion

Figure 1: A visualisation of our impression of the intensity of the music on a scale of 1–10 versus our description of the emotions in each piece as scored using the AFINN lexicon for sentiment analysis

Figure 2: House of Lysias, Block D1. Courtesy Yale University Art Gallery, Dura-Europos Collection, k-327; corresponds with Baird 2011, fig. 1

Figure 3: Man standing inside Tower 1, ancient fortifications. Courtesy Yale University Art Gallery, Dura-Europos Collection, c-172; corresponds with Baird 2011, fig. 2

Figure 4: Worker inside the Temple of Azzanathkona. Courtesy Yale University Art Gallery, Dura-Europos Collection, Fx-8; corresponds with Baird 2011, fig. 3

Figure 5: Man standing in doorway of block B2. Courtesy Yale University Art Gallery, Dura-Europos Collection, z-90; corresponds with Baird 2011, fig. 5

Figure 6: Workers pushing removed dirt in rail carts. Courtesy Yale University Art Gallery, Dura-Europos Collection, z-92. Corresponds with Baird 2011, fig. 15

Figure 7: Yale expedition members taking notes on excavated area of the Mithraeum. Courtesy Yale University Art Gallery, Dura-Europos Collection, g974b. Corresponds with Baird 2011, fig. 9

Figure 8: Yale-French Academy team members above trench on main street. Courtesy Yale University Art Gallery, Dura-Europos Collection, d108. Corresponds with Baird 2011, fig. 10

Figure 9: Cumont and Rostovtzeff in the Mithraeum. Courtesy Yale University Art Gallery, Dura-Europos Collection g852a. Corresponds with Baird 2011, fig. 11

Figure 10: Young man wearing an ancient textile cap. Courtesy Yale University Art Gallery, Dura-Europos Collection g-785. Corresponds with Baird 2011, fig. 4

Figure 11: Three faience jars from a private house. Courtesy Yale University Art Gallery, Dura-Europos Collection Fiii63. Corresponds with Baird 2011, fig. 19

Figure 12: Bone objects from Dura-Europos. Courtesy Yale University Art Gallery, Dura-Europos Collection Dam-147. Corresponds with Baird 2011, fig. 22

Figure 13: Man on camel in the Palmyrene Gate. Courtesy Yale University Art Gallery, Dura-Europos Collection, y-550. Corresponds with Baird 2011, fig. 18

Table 1: Original emotional responses and impressions of the intensity of the resulting image sonifications prior to looking at the images

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