Lithophones presentation

Monthly presentation arranged by the Pikes Peak Chapter of the Colorado Archaeological Society.

For decades, archaeologists working in the San Luis Valley have been perplexed with a head-scratching mystery. They found purposefully shaped stone artifacts, which resemble modern loaves of bread. They originally thought the stones functioned as grinding stones, pestles, or digging tools. Eventually, testing verified their acoustical properties! This new class of prehistoric artifacts is called lithophones.

A lithophone is a musical instrument consisting of a purposely selected rock (often shaped) that is tapped to produce musical notes. While lithophones have been utilized in cultures around the world for thousands of years, only a few have been formally recognized in North America and none had been previously documented in Colorado. In her presentation, Marilyn Martorano will address a key question: Where these stone artifacts utilized to play some of the earliest music in the western U.S.? In addition, she will discuss the characteristics of 22 lithophones analyzed as part of a Colorado State Historical Fund archaeological assessment grant. She will bring sample lithophones and demonstrate the ringing, resonating sound of these stones.

Marilyn A. Martorano, a Registered Professional Archaeologist, has over 40 years of experience in cultural resource management in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region. Martorano holds a BA from Adams State University and an MA in anthropology from Colorado State University. Her research interests include culturally modified trees (CMTs), the archaeology of early Hispano settlements, the Old Spanish National Historic Trail in the San Luis Valley, and lithophones – the newly identified prehistoric artifact type in Colorado.

Martorano has been the recipient of several awards for her work with CMTs, for her work at the Bromley-Koizuma-Hishinuma Farm, for archaeological work on the historic Tarryall National Register of Historic Places rural district nomination, and for her lithophone research at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.