Welcome to MUSARK

Have you ever thought about how it sounded at a dance during the Bronze Age, or at a wedding ceremony in the Viking Age? What sort of instruments did people play during the Stone Age? What do we actually know about music in these distant times?

The traditional history of music will be inadequate when a question from the time before written evidence and manuscripts is to be considered. Archaeology, on the other hand, can supply knowledge about the artifacts, culture, religion and society that music was a part of. Music archaeology is the field of knowledge which lays between music and archaeology. It is a compound study area covering music and the practice of music in various periods when archaeological material is the starting point.

The website musark.no has been evolved and developed by Gjermund Kolltveit, one of the few people whose work includes Music-archeaology in Norway. As a researcher, musician and instrument-maker he is ideally qualified in this special subject. Musark.no presents current  research projects, instruments and news about music archeaology and related subjects

Funeral procession in the bronze age, from W. Dreyers book Nordens oldtid (Kristiana 1900). Most bronze trumpets were found in southern Scandinavia. They are usually found in pairs, and the two trumpets are pointing in opposite directions. This indicates that they were also used in pairs, perhaps in harmony.