Of Roman Bells and Avar Ringbells – Prehistoric Idiophones from Vienna

Abstract

Twenty-five bells have been discovered so far during the excavations in Vindobona, Roman Vienna. Ten bells were found in the area of the military camp in barracks at Judenplatz, in barracks at Bauernmarkt/Fleischmarkt and at the fabricae at the site Am Hof. Five other bells originate from metal workshops of the canabae legionis and from streets. The six bells of the civilian settlement were found in buildings along the Rennweg, the former Limesstraße, although these were definitely building complexes with residential, workshop and sales areas. Two other bells were discovered along roads. The bells were cast in bronze with lead, gunmetal (Cu-Sn-Zn-Pb), copper-lead and forged from iron. Those made of copper alloys can be classified into four different types with some variations. The bells forged from iron sheet are represented only by Fe-type 1. The sizes of the bells range from 7 mm to 91 mm and their weights from 5.8 g to 141.54 g. Apart from one clapper preserved without a bell, only four fragmented iron clappers corroded on the inside of the bell wall are known. The functions of the bells are manifold: they could have served as apotropaic tintinnabulae, as components of the harness of draught, pack and riding animals, as equipment for grazing animals, as signalling instruments for the ordering of military and civil life, as ornaments of building and as apotropaic decorative pendants – the small bells being predestined here – and as cult instruments. However, none of the larger bells can be assigned an exact function on the basis of their location. Presumably – but not proven – the bells were made in the metal workshops on site, whereby each company probably used its own recipes. From the Avar Khaghanate period pellet bells and two bells from three different sites in the Vienna area are known. Fifteen bells and one bell come from only eight graves of the large cemetery Csokorgasse, 11th district of Vienna, and one more from the adjoining postavar cemetery. The cemetery in Liesing, Carlbergergasse, 23rd district of Vienna, excavated in the 1940s, yielded a total of nine bells from five graves. Three of them are tutulus-shaped. The pellet bells from Csokorgasse were mainly found in children’s graves. Only from grave 650 they belong to the co-buried animals, namely a dog and a horse. The only bell from this burial ground was located by the left hip of the early adult male. The remaining pellet bells were located in the area of the pelvis, the thighs and the right hip. Those pellet bells from the undisturbed graves from the Carlbergergasse mainly belong to the horse bridle and were attached to the saddle. Textile remains were found on several pellet bells from both cemeteries. These will be examined, analysed and presented in a later article. Another bell comes from a large cemetery on Spohrstraße, 13th district of Vienna, which has not been excavated. The pellet bells were forged from sheet metal (mainly iron but also sheet bronze) and cast from various copper alloys such as tin-lead-bronze and gunmetal. Those made of bronze sheet from grave 650, Csokorgasse, were additionally gilded. Bronze balls and small pebbles serve as rattle bodies. The pellet bells can be divided into the basic shapes shape I, II, III, IV and VII. Some pellet bells are decorated with grooves and ornamental bands, most have smooth surfaces. Since the acoustic range of the pellet bells is small, the assumption that they were worn by humans, served as apotropaic amulets and functioned as ornaments on horses hardens. We must emphasised – as also proven in other grave fields – that bells and pellet bells did not play a major role in Avar society, as they are only found in very few graves from the middle of the 7th century until the end of the Khaganate. No typical characteristics could be found in the acoustically and psychoacoustically examined objects of the class (pellet bell or bell). The partial tones of the objects range from 1.2 kHz to over 20 kHz, with the most pronounced range (peak frequency) between 2 and 3.8 kHz, only in the case of cat. 22 it is 7.6 kHz and in the case of the Avar bell (cat. 50) even almost 16 kHz. With the exception of the typical sound production, they are largely similar in spectral and psychoacoustic parameters, the bells are even louder than the pellet bells. As expected, both types are bright and sharp in sound but hardly harsh. Loudness, sharpness and brightness correlate significantly with the copper content of the objects, but this does not yet imply a causal relationship given the number of objects – this must be verified by further analyses.