Caves have natural properties of resonance – some parts sound very well, the sound lasts for some seconds or gives several echoes, some other parts have a dull resonance or no resonance at all. It is extremely interesting to compare, in a given cave, the map of the most resonant locations with the map of the locations of a cave’s paintings. Are there correlations between resonance and paintings?

Many Palaeolithic caves in France, in Ural, and recently in Spain, have been studied, and for most of them the answer was remarkably positive; the more resonant the location, the more paintings or signs are situated in this location. Some positive results have also been obtained regarding the relationship between paintings and echoes in open spaces where prehistoric painted rocks have been found.

In his lecture, Iegor Reznikoff explains research methods, highlights particular examples, and discusses the importance of the discovery of a relationship between acoustic properties and visual embellishment in caves and rocks.