A few days ago, at the Lannemezan community center, it was not just a conference that took place, but an echo from 18,000 years ago that came back to life.
A sharing moment carried out by the “Arts, Sciences et Techniques” association, whose president, Christophe Lauthier, continues the work initiated. The organizers paid tribute to the memory of Claudette, the founder of the structure.
From 3 p.m., the Andy Moses group set the tone with Caribbean sounds, alongside Jesús Avila’s hyper-realistic paintings and Bernard Roucoll, showcasing works inspired by prehistory and music. The afternoon included workshops on prehistoric techniques and chess initiations by Le Fou Blanc.
In the evening, Guillaume Fleury, responsible for prehistory collections and physical anthropology at the Toulouse Museum, presented on human evolution, climates, fire, symbolic behaviors, burials, and music.
Flutes made of vulture bones dating back about 40,000 years, found in Germany, indicate the presence of music in these prehistoric societies. Some cave paintings also suggest musical, ritual, or social practices.
“The Marsoulas Shell”
Discovered in 1931 and long considered a simple container, the Marsoulas shell turned out to be a 18,000-year-old wind instrument, the oldest conch horn known to date.
After being stored at the museum for over eighty years, Guillaume Fleury breathed new life into the conch, proving its musical function. Tests were conducted to recreate several notes (C, C sharp, D).
The audience was introduced to the sounds of late Paleolithic and Neolithic objects, captivating the room with scrapers, percussion tools, mouth bows, whistles, and bullroarers, among others.
The reproduction of the conch caught attention and curiosity, with some attempting to blow into it timidly before the demonstrative explanation by the speaker noting that the sound could reach 110 decibels, equivalent to a train entering a station.
The Magdalenian period has long been associated with the image of the “caveman” in collective imagination. Guillaume Fleury described human groups capable of creating complex instruments, rooted in collective traditions and driven by survival. This ancient view of humanity challenges our ways of innovating and collaborating today.
The conch of Marsoulas is on display until October 18, 2026, at the Aurignacian Museum in Aurignac, France.
