LITHOPHONES: Rocks That Sing

Everyone knows that rocks can make noise. Toss one in the water—KERSPLASH! Drop one on the ground—THUNK! Throw a rock through a window—CRASH! OH NO!

But some rocks actually make musical sounds when struck with another rock or with a hammer. A general name for any musical rock is lithophonea combination of the Latin words for rock and sound. Humans have used lithophones to play “rock music” for thousands of years.

ROCK GONGS

In 1955, archeologist Bernard Fagg studied ancient rock paintings in Nigeria. He noticed that some of the rocks were pockmarked where someone had pounded on them over and over again six to eight thousand years ago. Why were ancient people pounding on rocks?

Fagg tried tapping the worn places on the stones. He produced bell-like sounds. He remembered seeing similarly pockmarked rocks at other sites, so he went