From Grace Bedell Toronto, Ontario, Canada
I accept that ancient peoples may have selected sites for social and spiritual purposes because of unique soundscapes, but, for cave art, what if sound was mostly important to help find the right place? For an artist, tall ceilings would be good so smoke from a large light-giving fire would gather high up, allowing clear sight for painting and comfortable breathing; tall Victorian ceilings had the same purpose (22 November, p 34).
To find such height, the length of reverberation could be used as a proxy measurement by the artist. A dim torch would be useless for assessing this. Ancient peoples may have had a strong appreciation for sound signals and some people who are blind are said to have improved echolocation, so discovering this method may not have been difficult.
