EXARC Journal (Nov 2021)
A Singing Bone from the Mätäjärvi (‘Rotten Lake’) Quarter of Medieval Turku, Finland: Experimental Reconstructions and Contemporary Musical Exploration
Abstract
At the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries, in the town of Turku (SW Finland), a new quarter was built near a lake that came to be known as Mätäjärvi (‘Rotten Lake’), possibly because it was polluted by the waste from leather tanners, shoemakers, and other artisans. In the excavated remains of a wooden house in this quarter, objects like leather shoes, clippings and scrapings, imported stoneware from Germany, bone beads, spindles, and numerous bones of young cats, dogs, sheep, pigs and cattle were found, allowing the conclusion this might have been an artisan’s dwelling. On the premises, a part of a worked sheep shin bone was found that we have interpreted as a flute of the block-and-duct type with two or three finger holes. This is a rare find for Finland, where, contrary to other parts of Europe, only a very small number of bone wind instruments are known, all dating from the late Middle Ages and nearly all found in Turku. This flute was a coarsely made simple instrument with a small ambitus. In many regions, flutes were traditionally played by shepherds as a means to communicate with their flock and as entertainment while herding. As we know that sheep and other domestic animals were kept in Turku, it is tempting to interpret the flute as a shepherd’s instrument, but sources pertaining to the use of this particular artefact are lacking. We made two hypothetical reconstructions of the flute from similarly shaped and sized unprovenanced medieval sheep shin bones, one with two finger holes and the other with three finger holes. Flutist and sound artist Taina Saarikivi then explored the musical possibilities of the three-holed reconstruction by experimenting with it for over a year, making this medieval instrument sound or sing again.
