Hornbostel, Ethnology of African Sound-Instruments

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International African Institute

The Ethnology of African Sound-Instruments. Comments on "Geist und Werden derMusikinstrumente" by C. SachsAuthor(s): E. M. Von HornbostelReviewed work(s):Source: Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Apr., 1933), pp.

129-157Published by: Cambridge University Presson behalf of the International African InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1155180.

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FRJOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTEOF AFRICAN LANGUAGES AND CULTURESVOLUME VI APRIL I933 NUMBER 2

THE ETHNOLOGY OF AFRICAN SOUND-INSTRUMENTSCOMMENTSON GEIST UND WERDEN DER MUSIK-INSTRUMENTE BY C. SACHS.

E. M. VON HORNBOSTEL/M USICAL nstrumentsrein so farof importanceor culturalresearch s theypartake,n an almostunparalleledegree,ofthenature f both material ndmental ulture.Theycanbe seenandhandledand, in addition o this advantage, ossessmanyqualitiesunconnectedwith their mmediate urpose;purity, opiousness, ndbeautyof soundarehistoricallyhe latestpropertiesoughtafter,andaimed at technically. (For purposesof research verythingmustcountas a musical nstrumentwith which sound canbe producedintentionallynd, orthisreason,t isadvisableousetheterm sound-producingnstruments'.)Thefactof theirgivingforthsoundclassesthemat onceamong live' objectsandlendstheman effectakintothatof speechandsong. That heirsoundsarenotthoseof thehumanvoice investsthemwith a mysterious nd superhumanotency. Itwould behard o finda sound-instrumenthichhadnot originallyritualormagical ignificance,ndwhichhadnot served or anindefi-niteperiod sasecularmusementoradultsbeforebeing inally assedonto thechildren.Ritualuseisalwayshereforen ndication f greatantiquity.On the otherhand, objectswhich are indiscriminately'Africa': theJournal f the Internationalnstituteof African Languagesnd Culturesis published ythe Institute,butexceptwhereotherwisetatedthe writersof the articlesarealoneresponsibleor theopinionsxpressed.

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130 ETHNOLOGY OF AFRICAN SOUND-INSTRUMENTSused at any time and by any person may be suspected of datingfrom a later period, or of having been imported from without.'Musical nstrumentshave not only a ritual but a sociological signi-ficance. For instance, n the social organizationof the south-easternAustralians,which is based on sex-totems, a pair of bull-roarersrepresents he tribalancestors. Very frequently he use of an instru-mentis limitedto one sex,while it is strictlytabufor the other. Evenapart from their acoustic properties,their variety of form, carefulworkmanship,wealth of technicalinvention,and artisticornamenta-tion, make instrumentsa. gratifying object for comparative study.This studycan, however,only prove profitable f the details of work-manshiparesufficiently aken into account. For, frequently, t is justthe inconspicuouspeculiaritieswhich lead to the most far-reachingand certain conclusions. For the research-student he informationthat 'flutes' arein use among a certain ribe is valueless. It is neces-saryfor him to know whetherthe instrumenthas an arrangementorconductingair through a tube towards an orifice in its wall (block-flutes);whether it receives the currentof air by the mouth or by thenose, fromthe end or from the side;if it is providedwith finger-holes,theirnumberand the orderin which they are disposed;whethertheupper end is sharpened,or notched, etc. In fact, there must be nodoubt that the objectin questionis a flute andnot a reed-instrument(of whateverkind) or a trumpet,the sounds of which are producedby lip-vibration.2When, further,the sound-instrumentshave deve-loped into musical nstruments, n the strictersense of the word, theyacquirean almost unparalleled mportancenot only for musical re-searchbutalsofor ethnology. Frominstrumentswith fixedpitches-pan-pipes, xylophones, instruments with finger-holes (flutes and

This is clearly demonstrated n W. Kaudern's Musical nstrumentsof Celebes,G6teborg, 1927, pp. 313 et seq.2 Although there is a visible improvementas to the accuracyof the statementsmade in recentethnologicalliterature, herestill occur the most regrettablesuper-ficialities and misunderstandings. Photographs of the instruments, if possiblewhile being played,as well as sketches,should take the place of long descriptions,but sectionaldrawingsarealso required n cases whereessentialsof the mechanismcannot be viewed from the outside, as is the case with blocked flutes. As anexampleof the bestkindof illustrationanddescriptionwe maycite the monographby Kaudern,cf. also Hornbostel and Sachs,Z.f. Ethn. 46, 1924, as well as theAppendixto the presentarticle.




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ETHNOLOGY OF AFRICAN SOUND-INSTRUMENTS 31shawms), lutes and zithers with pegs-we can derive exact databymeans of acoustic or length measurement. These do not merelyfurnishtone-relations-intervals and scales-and thus anotherdistin-guishing characteristicbeyond that of craftsmanship;Ibut also theactualmeasures: vibration-numbersof the tones, dimensionsof theseries of finger-holes or frets, have themselves proved excellentmaterial or research n the history of culture.2Sound-instrumentshave alreadybeen extensivelydiscussed, bothfrom the point of view of the ethnologist and of the musician,butonly in the form of special monographs, dealing with the objectscontained in a particularcollection (see, for example, 'Notes Ana-lytiques', Coll. Ethnogr.Museedu Congo,, I902), or in some definitegeographical area-at most, the whole of one continent (e.g. B.Ankermann, D. afr. Musikinstr.',Ethn.Notizblatt,ii, 9o02)or evenwith a single instrument(e.g. the Sansa in G. Montandon, Arch.Suissesd'Anthropologieenerale , I9I9). But a comprehensive tudyofinstruments, ncluding their mental aspect, has long been felt to beindispensable o musicologyand still more to ethnology. This couldonly be suppliedby an expertmusician,who was also equippedwitha comprehensiveknowledge of the enormous mass of materialscat-teredthroughthe ethnological iterature. The sole living scholarwhofulfils these conditions is Curt Sachs,and all interestedin culturalscienceare ndebted o him forthe attemptat an universalorganologymade in his latest book.3 It is no depreciationof this stupendouswork or of the results arrivedat, to call it an attempt.For his method andits applicationareentirelynew: while limitingitself to one special group of culturalphenomena,it embraces allpeoplesandages andcombines the discussionof the problemsarisingfrom the point of view of musicalscience,craftsmanship, thnology,and geographicaldistribution of culture(with especialstress on thelast). ' The path opened by the geographicalmethodappeared o bethe surest and the one most capableof being tested. The beginning

1 A. J. Ellis, JournalSoc. of Arts, 33 (I885); Sammelbde.. vergl.Musikwiss.,i, I922.2 E. M. von Hornbostel, Z.f. Ethnol.,43 (I9II), pp. 6oi et seq.; Anthropos, 2(1927), pp. 657 et seq.; Festschr.P. W. Schmidt1928), pp. 303 et seq.3 Geistund Werden erMusikinstrumente,erlin (Dietrich Reimer), I929.K 2




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132 ETHNOLOGY OF AFRICAN SOUND-INSTRUMENTSand the end could easilybe verified. The most recentpast could berecognizedwith certaintyn the light of historicaldata,and the begin-ning could be ascertainedbeyond possibilityof errorwhen the fourquestionsasto the musicalachievement, hecraftsmanship,heculturalstate of the tribes in question,and the areaof distributionyieldedthesame answer, to the effect that no more primitive stage could bediscovered.' (p. 6.)The vast material which Sachs has accumulatedduring severaldecadesof work is arranged n chronologicalsections. He arrivesathis groupings by comparing the distribution of individual types,assuming that the same types do not originate independently indifferentculturalareas,but spreadfrom one centre-an assumptionhotly contested,even at the presentday. In my opinion, Sachs'sbookamplyjustifiesthis assumption,at least as a working hypothesis. Itis precisely histheorywhichgives his work its enormoussignificance,extendingfarbeyondits immediatesubject.Here I must ask the reader'sindulgence f the views developed inthe following pages should seemto fall outsidethe scope of a criticalreview. I shallendeavour o amplifythe discussion n two directions.In the firstplaceit seems desirable o entermorefully into the generalprinciples of the method on which the possibility of a historicalethnology depends(for, as with the other sciences,it is preciselyinthe generalprinciples hatunanimitycouldpossiblybe achieved; andI am sufficientlyoptimisticnot to relinquishhope of this). Secondly,in a periodicaldealingin the main with Africanmatters,stressshouldbe laid on the position of African sound-instrumentsn the historyof culture. Starting rom this continent,but always keepingin mindthe universal distributionas presentedby Sachs,I have first tried tooutline a grouping independentof that proposedby Sachs,and haveafterwardscompared that grouping with his. The results reachedwere almost the same,which is all in favour of the method.As the readercannot be supposedto be acquaintedwith the detailsof instrumentaltechnique,or with Sachs'sbook, I have appendedaglossaryof Africansound-instrumentswith briefdescriptions.It mayalso serve as a guide to field-workers n ethnology, who, it is to behoped, may be encouragedby it to fill the gaps still remaining n ourknowledge.




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ETHNOLOGY OF AFRICAN SOUND-INSTRUMENTSTHE ETHNOLOGICAL METHOD

THE THEORY OF EVOLUTIONThe question as to the origin of any given culturalphenomenonis the one which awakensthe most universalinterest. The various

objects and customs must have had predecessors,one develops outof another,and, as at the present day we still find primitiveand yetmore primitivetypes side by side with the most advanced, t maybepossible to reconstruct he pedigreeback to the original parent. Thedevelopmentof living beingsproceedsfrom the homogeneousto theheterogeneous. Is it likely that the process should differ n the caseof culture products? We have therefore only to collect objectsbelonging to the same class and to arrange hem accordingto theirdegreeof differentiation,n order to obtaina serieswhich should atthe same time reveal the relativeage of the individualobjects and,consequenton this, the historyof theirspecies.Having thus arrived at the oldest member of the family, e.g. thefirst string-instrument,we must continue our search in order todiscover whetherthe saidinstrumenthad a precursoramong objectsof a differentkind, or whether some accidentaldiscoverycould haveled to its 'invention'.Plausibleasthis reasoningsounds,its utilityas a guideto methodisdoubtful,andtheoriesof evolution,howeveringenious,cancontributelittle to the classification f culturalphenomenan chronologicalorder,whichhasalwaysbeenacceptedas one of themostimportantproblemsof ethnology. The fact that a theory strikes us as plausibleby nomeansproves its soundness, even the simplicityof the object is nocriterionof its age; the bull-roarerandthe boomerang mpressus bythe subtlety of their technique, yet they belong to the Australianaborigines. If rhythmsareto be arrangedn the orderof theirrelativesimplicity, those of the African drum would representthe extremedevelopment,those of the Chinese and our own classicalcomposersthe most elementarystage. It is certainlya simplermatterto form atongue by means of two incisions in a small piece of wood thantohollow out a log from a narrow slit in its side, but the Jew's harpisknown only to a smallfractionof mankind,while, on the otherhand,the areaof the slit-drumencirclesthe whole globe. The advocate of

133




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134 ETHNOLOGY OF AFRICAN SOUND-INSTRUMENTSthe evolution theory, by taking the membersof his serieswhereverhe finds them, tacitlyassumesthat, in spite of their being separatedat present,they must at some period have been contiguous, both intime and space-since childrencannot be produced in the absenceof their parents.This involves one of two assumptions-either that this sameprocess of linear development takes place everywhere,only pro-gressing at differentrates n differentareas,or that the older memberdid indeed originatein the same place as the younger,but has sincedied out there. The evolutionist must recognize the necessity ofdecidingon one of thesetheories,andhe shouldexpresslystatewhichhe advocates. The first,at least in its extremeform, has now pro-bably been abandoned. But the difficultiesof method involved inthe second, which are wellnigh fatal to the evolution theory, areusuallynot sufficiently aken into account.Traces of the evolutionaryattitude are still found in the earlierworksof mento whom ethnologyowes its conversionto thehistoricalpoint of view and the geographicalmethod. FrobeniusItracesbackthe skin-drumthroughthe beatingon a stretchedox-hideat the men'sinitiationceremoniesamong the Bechuana,to the rhythmicbeatingwith sticksin the preparation f hides. He overlookedthe facts thatstretchedreptileskin is used for the Melanesiandrum(Ankermann),that cattle-breeding, braying of skins, and rhythmicallyregulatedwork in common areculturalphenomenaof late date,and that skin-drums were originallybeatenwith the handandnot with drum-sticks(Sachs). He represents he musicalbow, or indeeda bow of anykind,as developingfrom the idiochordiczither; the knife,which was usedfor fashioning stringsto tie with from the outerbark of the bamboo,is supposedto standuprightunderthe stringandserves to stretch t.In thiswayboththeresonanceandthepropulsive orceof thestretchedfibrewere, in his opinion, discovered. This theory,too, is untenable:a bow fashioned n the way justdescribedwould be useless for shoot-ing purposes,and,secondly,eventhe simpleststring-instruments ereunknown to the primitives, though many, e.g. the palaeolithicsofeasternSpain,andthe Pygmies,did use bows for shooting.Ankermann shows greater caution in assuming (D. afr. Musik-

UrsprungderafrikanischenKulturen,1898.




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ETHNOLOGYOF AFRICANSOUND-INSTRUMENTS 135instrumente,901) both the idiochordbar-zitherand the musicalbowas the prototypes of stringed instruments,without attempting todecide which form is the earlier and whether the musical bow isderived from the shooting-bow. Quite logically, he places the self-stringedinstruments:the raft-zither, he zither with notched bridgeand the tube-zither n a class by themselves, but, on the other hand,derivesallthosewith stringsattached rom the musicalbow, even theheterochordicraft-zither, he flat-barzither, and the trough-zither.All such conclusions,which arealwaysmore or less arbitrary, ppearto us nowadays somewhat antiquated. Montandon(Arch. Suissesd'Anthropologieenerale , x9I9) seems to have overlooked the occur-rence of the shooting-bow in the very earliestcultures,in assigningit to Grabner's Bow Culture' while placing the musicalbow in themore ancient 'Two-Class Culture'. He then goes on to derive theweapon from the musical bow after this had passed from the idio-chordto the heterochordform-the idiochord,as it was supposedtobe more easilyconstructed,being the earlier.Even Sachs,though he recognizesthe geographicalmethodas thesurest and uses it from preference,and although generally on hisguardagainst he deceptiveandambiguouscharacter f the' simplicity'criterion,whether technical or musical,and of 'plausibility' as the'greatestenemyto allsuch inquiries',neverthelessoccasionallymakesconcessions to evolutionary interpretationand therefore believeshimselfto be justified n retouching n accordancewith it the definitelines of the chronology so carefullyworked out by the culture-geographicalmethod. His most importanthypothesis-the develop-ment of the musical bow from the percussion-beam hrough theground-zither-will now be discussed somewhat more fully, pre-supposing the 'distribution-criterion', he evidence for which willbe producedlateron.Ground-zither.A length of vegetable fibre is stretched across acavityin the groundandpegged down at both ends. Therearethreevarietiesof this: (i) That of the simplestconstruction,with open pitand no contrivancefor tension, is found in Java as a children'stoy,as well as among the Bube in FernandoPo; both forms have severalparallelstrings. The occurrence n two such widely separated ocali-ties is anotherargument n favourof regarding hisform astheearliest.




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136 ETHNOLOGY OF AFRICAN SOUND-INSTRUMENTS(2) With the pit coveredin; a stick fixed between the cover and thestringsuppliesthe tension. Distribution:Annam, MalayanMalacca,Madura,Madagascar.In Madura he string s divided into threepartsby meansof two tension sticks over two covered pits. (3) A longwand,restingat each end on a post, is drawn down in the middleby anoose fastenedto the cover. The only authenticatedevidence of thiscomes from Annam,and it should thereforebe regardedas the mostrecent. Generallyspeaking,the distributionof the ground-zither nthe East is confinedto the IndonesianHigh Cultureareaanddoes notsuggestanygreat antiquity. Its occurrenceamongthe Bubemight beaccounted or by importation-especially if the firstformis regardedasa retrogressionand,atthe sametime,a caseof adaptation o instru-ments with severalstrings,which at anyrateis not impossible.Percussion-beam-Ground-zither.he juxtapositionof these is justi-fied by severalpoints which they have in common: 'the length of thevibratingbody, its horizontalposition close to the ground, its beingstruckby two sticksand,finally, he pit, whichis sometimeshollowedout close to the percussion-beam'. The rattan(Form 3) representsthe transition o the string.The percussion-beamsuspended horizontallyin two nooses be-longs, judging from its sporadicdistribution(see below), to a veryold culturalstratum. But nowhere,except in the Banks Islands,dowe find a large bamboo tube resting on forked sticks with a pitexcavated n the groundbesideit, the pit being coveredwith a board,to be stampedon bythe feet. The bamboomust have dwindledintoa flexiblewand,and the stamping-boardnto a light coveringfor thepit, which is now smaller n size andplacedclose to the percussion-beam; the tension-noose, moreover,must have beeninventedbeforethe local variant of the percussion-beam ould have developed intothe equally ocal variantof the ground-zither. Assuming this to bethe case, the more widely distributedForm 2 would be a secondaryderivative from the above, a new principleof tension being sub-stitutedfor theone previously n use. In contradictiono the evidenceof the distribution-criterion,we should find, in this case, that thetension-stickground-zither and the simplestForm i) would be themore recent, the ground-zitherwith tension-noose the earlier-infact, the earliest form of chordophone. Any attempt at deriving




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ETHNOLOGYOF AFRICANSOUND-INSTRUMENTS 137other forms of chordophone from this can only be productive ofnew difficulties.Ground-zither-Idiochord-zither.achs connects the self-stringedbow-zitherdirectlywith the ground-zither.Inthisthe stringfashionedfrom the outer skin of a long wand is kept in position by atension-stick, hus giving the flexiblewandthe form of a bow. Greatantiquityis indicated by the following facts: (a) distribution: con-fined to Togoland and New Guinea (Sepik); (b) the single string;(c) the absenceof any resonator(not even the mouth serving in thatcapacity);and(d) accordingto Sachs,the great length. The tension-

stick is, in this case, necessitatedby the idiochordic string, whilethis is not the case with the ground-zither(Form 2). One mightthereforeconcludethat it had, in the firstplace, been intendedfor anidiochordicinstrument. It is impossibleto discover for what reasonthe resonatorhas beendispensedwith, especiallyas a gourd-resonatorwas subsequentlyaddedto the bow-zither. (At the sametime, whilethe numberof stringsis increased, he tension-stickdevelopsinto thenotched or nicked bridge.)The ground-zither s struck with two little sticks, the bow-zitherwith one only, because,accordingto Sachs,one handis occupiedinholding the instrument. But it is not necessary o hold the portableinstrument,as is demonstratedbelow in the case of the bow with

separateresonator.Greatantiquitymustbe accorded o another orm of the idiochordicbar-zither. In this, insteadof a flexiblesupport,the stringsare heldaway from the instrumentby two shallow 'bridges', slippedunderthem at each end. This form survives as a toy among the Pangwe(= Fang)in the South Cameroons and in Hungary),as a polychordin Flores,heterochordicand (in most caseserroneously)accountedasa musical bow in Oceania,New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, andHawai. The Pangweinstrumenthasthe following points in commonwith the ground-zither:its being one-stringed,its great length andhorizontalposition on the ground (the body consists of a bamboosplitlengthwise),and its beingplayedwith two small sticks.In this case also it is difficult o explainthe absenceof the resonatorand the transition from the heterochordicto the idiochordic formwith its peculiarbridge-tension.




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138 ETHNOLOGY OF AFRICAN SOUND-INSTRUMENTSGround-zither-Musicalow.Arranged n orderof 'simplicity' themusical bows would be placed in the following order: (i) Playedby the mouth without resonatorand tension-noose,with oral reson-ance (the stick is eitherpressed firmly againstthe teeth, or the stringis madeto vibrate nto themouth). (2) The same,playedbythe mouth,with tension-noose, the latter being fixed so as to encircle thestring and the stick. (3) Bow with separateresonator; the stick ispressedagainsta vessel placedon the ground. (4) Bow with gourd-resonator;a gourd-resonators attached o the bow. SachsconsidersForm 3 as the 'direct descendant' of the ground-zither. Both havein common their length, the horizontalposition of the strings, theresonator,and the striking with two beaters. Yet the bow withseparate esonator s neverfound with a tension-nooseandin Togo itis played by 'plucking '. Besides, the detached resonator occurs incombination with other instruments(it does so with the extremelyancient'scraped tick')and thereforecanhardlybe regardedasa modi-ficationof the ground-zithercavity. Form i, then, is regarded bySachsas an 'indirectdescendant'of the ground-zither, hat is to say,in the first place, the longer variety of noose-bow, gripped in thecentreby the teeth,and,as a morerecenttype,the shorter orm,with-out a noose, playedby pressing ts end againstthe teeth. In this 'thelast traceof the ground-zitherhas disappeared'.This series can only be arrived at if we assumethat the ground-zither is the progenitor, that the bow with detached resonatorhadlost the tension-noosedeveloped by its prototype the ground-zither,that the mouth-bowhadrestored t anddropped he resonatorby wayof compensation(thus undergoingthe reverseprocessto that of theconnecting link), and finallyeven dropping the tension-noose againand thus becoming assimilated n shapeto the aboriginalshooting-bow. In respectof distributionalso, the musicalbow without noosemust be regardedas the older, if not the oldest, type.

CRITERIA FOR RELATIVE CHRONOLOGYThe criteriaof poverty and simplicityof cultureoften fail us, and

arealwayssubjective. At most, it is possible to concludethat, if oneof two phenomenaoccursonly in culturesrecognized,on the whole,as the more primitive, the other in higher cultures, then the first




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ETHNOLOGY OF AFRICAN SOUND-INSTRUMENTS 139is the earlier. This test is especially reliable in cases where bothphenomenacan be traced n historic times. As bowing was unknownto antiquity,we may now conclude that, in the case of the musicalbow also, bowing is a more recentprocessthanpluckingor striking.As the ancient harp had only fixed pegs, the movable pegs ofthe negro harpareprobablya latermodification,perhapsanalogousto other instrumentspossessing this feature (e.g. the Islamic lute).Since the Africanflat bar-zitherhas arrived with the Hova migra-tion, in historic times, by way of Madagascar rom Indonesia,andhas no pegs, it is probable that the Indonesian variety once didnot possessanyeither,andthat the typesin whichtheyarestilllackingmust be accounted as the oldest. Likewise, the order in which thedifferentmaterialswere used has been historicallyascertained. Forexample,in metals we have the series: copper (gold, silver), bronze,iron, brass, and so on. We know that, generally speaking, metalscome later than wood, bone, stone, and clay. The African sansa(confinedto Africa only) must be taken as older when its lamellaeare madeof wood thanwhen theyare of iron. The xylophoneis olderthan the metallophone. On the other hand, it may happen thatmigratory tribes arrive in districts where the requisite material islackingandhasto be replacedby another-thus wooden vessels havetakenthe place of potteryin Polynesia. In this way culturalacquisi-tions maybe lost.It is certain hat,in thewayof implements,manacceptswhat natureaffordshim, and frequentlyretains the naturalshape when using adifferentmaterial. Thus someclayvessel-flutesreproduce he shapeofnuts orgourds. The reedpan-pipesarecopied n wood (bythe Romansand in Peru), in stone (China,Peru),and in clay (Peru). Butit is notsafe to generalizefrom these facts and to expect to find a prototypein naturefor every implement. It is doubtful whether the woodendrumcanbe tracedto the bamboo,the luren o the tusks of the mam-moth. Horns, those of cattleand antelopesor those made of ivory,arecertainlymorerecentthan wooden trumpets. The suggestionthatthe lateralblow-hole has any connexionwith the naturalcavityandsolid tip of horn or tusk is plausible,but not to be assumedaprioriascertain. The lateralblow-hole occurs, though problablymuch later,in the conch-trumpet,as well as the one at the tip. And for the




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140 ETHNOLOGYOF AFRICANSOUND-INSTRUMENTStransversetrumpetof New Guineaand of SouthAmerica no naturalhorns canhave served as models.SURVIVALS

We have in Tylor's so-called Survivals'a criterionwhich,appliedwith caution,may still be found useful in our day. His view is thatinorganicanduncomprehended henomenabelong to an earlierstageof developmentor, as we should say, to an older culturalstratum.For instance,the ceremonialabductionof the bride,in the marriagebypurchase, s an indication hatmarriageby rape s the older custom.We need not, however, conclude that the later form has developedout of the earlier,which only survives in some particular eatures.On the contrary,where development has taken place, we shouldexpect an organictransformation f the whole (Grabner).' Isolatedphenomena,having no organic connexion with their environment,would rather ndicatea disturbance n the normal courseof develop-ment. An instance of this occurs when a migratingrace carries tsculturewith it into the new habitat; t is compelled, n many respects,to adapt itself to new conditions, often with only partial success(for instance,the shape of the carved wooden spears of Polynesiapoints to an earliermetal technique). The colony does not sharethefurther development of the homeland,but takes a direction of itsown. The immigrants,at the sametime, will retain certainculture-elements, long obsolete in their originalhome, the real significanceof which is no longer understood, a differentinterpretationbeinggiven to them (we may instance the charcoalplaced in the water-drum by the Pawnees,which was originallya solar symbol).But, in the case of catastrophicchanges in the mother countryitself,we alsofindsurvivals,keptalivethroughthe influenceof fashionor superstition. The same phenomenaoccur when foreign culture-elementshave been adopted,butonly partiallyassimilated pan-pipes,and the ritual sanctiongiven to the absolute pitch in the SolomonIslands). In this casethe culturefromwhichthe new element s takenis, as a rule, the later (in the culture-historicalense). The borrowedelementthereforebelongs to a later stratumthan that in which it isfound, but with which it has no organic connexion. (The consecra-

I Fritz Grabner, Methodeder Ethnologie, Heidelberg, I911, p. 8 .




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ETHNOLOGY OF AFRICAN SOUND-INSTRUMENTS 14Ition of the absolutepitch as a standardbelongs to the ChineseHighCulture). But most of such cases representsurvivalsin relationtothe culture to which they originally belonged andwhich may, in theinterval,haveundergonefurtherdevelopment. Earlier orms surviveamong scatteredremnantsof tribes, in colonies and distant regionsnot readilyaccessible,to which displacedtribes have retreated. In-organicanduncomprehended lementsare thereforemerelyan indica-tion that we have to do with older culturalphenomena,but in whatconnexion, and to what culturethey must be assigned, can only bedecided on its meritsin each individual case.

' ELEMENTARGEDANKEN 'The culturesdispersedover the world at the present day includebesides a vast numberof differingfeatures,manywhich more or lessresembleeach other. How arewe to explainthese resemblancesanddifferencesBastiandeduced the similarities rom the common stock of human

psycho-physicalaptitudes('Elementargedanken'),he differences romthe varying external environment (geographical areas)-('Volker-gedanken). It is undeniablethat the psycho-physicalaptitudes ofmankindhavealreadyprepared he wayfor certainphenomenawhichwe reckon as part of culture(we may instance the use of workingimplements n general,whichis found evenamongthehigheranimals,singing and all rhythmicmovementsof the body, and the descendingmovement of a tune resulting from the relaxationof the muscles).But these phenomenaconcern only the most general categories ofcultural acts, in so far as they are of universaloccurrence. As soon,however,asthis explanations applied o particular henomenawhicharenot found in allpartsof theworld,it is less convincing. To whatextent does the psycho-physicalconstitutionof a person enablehimto invent a bull-roarer And if the matterwereas simpleas that,whydo some tribes not possess a bull-roarer? The answermight be thatthey have either lost it or have not yet acquiredit. The theory ofloss would applyto culturessuch as ours, in whichthebull-roarer asbecome a child's toy, but hardlyto tribes as poor in cultureas theVeddahs or the Fuegians who, if they ever had possessed a bull-roarer,would most certainlyhave kept it until they were able to




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142 ETHNOLOGYOF AFRICANSOUND-INSTRUMENTSexchange it for something better. The advocates of the 'not yet'view might pleadthatthesepeople hadnot yet arrivedat the stageofinventing any sort of sound-instrument. But this assumesthat man,at a certainstage of psycho-physicaldevelopment,must alwayspro-duce a bull-roarerasan animaloraplantproducesa particularorgan)in so far as outwardconditions admitof it, a view which no one willseriouslyuphold.One might further,as Bastiandoes, lay stresson the environmentand say that the ability to invent such and suchan objectis indeedgiven to all men, but the externalconditionsmust be favourableifthey are to supplythe impulse. The Bushmen could andwould haveconstructed ish-hooksandlines, if they hadlived near waterand notin the Kalahari. The Polar tribes are compelled to contrive warmclothing, but not the inhabitantsof the tropics. But on what condi-tions does the invention of the bull-roarerby the Australiansdepend,and what others have preventedit in the case of the Veddahs? Ifwe, with Frobenius,derivethe bull-roarerromthe fish on the hook,which at least is not impossible,the question becomes more acute.Why do the Bushmenpossess the bull-roarer nd the Fuegianfisher-men not ? Here, as elsewhere, t is not permissible o generalize roma few examples,andwe would therefore, n everyindividual nstance,have to accountfor the presenceor absenceof anygiven phenomenonby its environment, which, in most cases, would be difficult if notimpossible.If we, in the lastresort,fallbackuponthe argument hatthe occur-renceor absenceof anyculturalelement s just one of the characteris-tics which distinguishone culturefrom another-we admitthat onlythe most general categories, which nowhere are lacking, can beexplainedas 'Elementargedanken',y reference o human nature,andthat every gap in this universal distributionproves that no suchelementarynotion exists.

ETHNOGRAPHIC PARALLELSIt is evidentthat, n thecaseof anexceptionalphenomenon, tsorigin

indifferentplacescannotbeattributed o the same nternalandexternalconditions,andthis impossibilityncreases n proportion o thepeculi-arityof the phenomenonandthe rarityof its occurrence. For, as the




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ETHNOLOGYOF AFRICANSOUND-INSTRUMENTS 143psycho-physicalconstitution of human beings is, to a great extent,the same,andthe environment n largeareas(not necessarilyconnec-ted), identicalor similar, t would requirevery specialconditions forthe exceptionalphenomenonto have come into existence at all, andit would appear o us as a remarkable ccident f such a combinationshould recurrepeatedly, n different ocalitiesand at different imes.Copiousinstancescould be quoted, and fresh ones appeardaily. Wemayinstance he use of a specialkindof bow in blood-letting(Heger):'the patient is shot with cane arrows (the tips bound with thinstrips of cane) from a small bow. Evidence: Cajapo,Indiansof theIsthmusof Panama,AstrolabeBay; the Masaialso use the sameprocedurefor cattle. Instances akenfromorganology: Idiochord-zither:Sepik,Togo; whizzing bow: Alor (SundaIslands),CherenteIndians(R.Tapajoz), ndLiberia;a hairlooped roundthe clarinet-reed:SouthAmerica,SouthernEurope. If, in suchcases,Hegerandother writersuse the expression Elementargedanken',hey are doing an injusticetoBastian. For Bastianhimself understoodby this term the simplestprimitive types of culturephenomena(more especiallythe mental),which are everywhere the same, and become differentiated nto' Volkergedanken'ccordingto the various conditionsin their several'geographicalareas'. But, again to quote Bastian, t is only by wayof exception that these natural'special developments' can proceeduninterruptedlyn strictly secludedareas. 'In most cases however,freshimpulsesaregiven from anothergeographicalarea. The physicalbarriers are broken down, and contact is establishedbetween theintellectualpeculiaritiesarising in each of the two provinces as aresult of their differentcharacteristics.This movement and contact,accomplishedon a predetermined eographicalbasis, initiatewhat isknown as history and culturaldevelopmentproperlyso called, theperiod n whichgeographical nvironmentasan activefactorgraduallyfades into the backgroundand becomesmerelyrudimentary.'2'Of course, different" Volkergedanken"ill occasionallycoincide,but this does not take place through arbitrarily ssumed intercoursebetweenpeoples,but solely,according o the geographical onditions,

T. Heger, Mitth. Anthrop.Ges. Wien, 23, and Festschr.P. W. Schmidt, 928,p. 275.2 K. v. d. Steinen,'Obituarynotice of Ad. Bastian', Z.f. Ethn.37 (1905), 246.




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144 ETHNOLOGY OF AFRICAN SOUND-INSTRUMENTSby way of the historicpathsmarkedout throughthe continents-nowthrough mountainpasses, now along rivers, or, again, by followingthe coast-line. And thesehistoricpathsmayrepeat hemselves-whatAlexander he Great carried o Indiamay,by way of the sea,reachtheIndonesianArchipelago.'"Bastian, therefore, also recognizes historical relations (contact,emigration,borrowing),but only in the lastresort,'when everycoin-cidence which can be explainedby universally applicablelaws hasbeeneliminated',2 and then onlyif theycan be referred o movementsauthenticatedby history and the routes indicated by geography.Example:the cross-bow,broughtto the Nicobarsby Chinese radingvessels, to the Pangwe by the Portuguese, to Europe through theCrusades,andto WesternAsia by the Mongols, cameoriginally romChina.

POLYGENESIS OR MONOGENESIS?Even when we have taken into consideration he psycho-physicalnatureof the people in question, and the physicalcharacteristics ftheir environment,we have by no means exhaustedthe conditionsrequisite for the production of any given cultural phenomenon.More importantthan eitheris the culturalsphereitself out of whichthe new one is created. A highly specializedphenomenoncan ob-viously have its originonly in a certaindefiniteculturalsphere. If weassertthat highly specializedparallel phenomenaare unrelated(forthatis implied by the term'accident'),becauseseparatedby distancesof time and spaceso great that no connexioncan even be imagined,then we are, at the sametime, assertingeither that the same objectcan originatein entirelydifferentconditions of the cultural sphere(convergence), or that the same highly specializedcombination ofconditionshasaccidentally ccurred everal imes over. Both explana-tions are,in the strictmathematicalense,extremely mprobable. (Infact, genuinecases of convergenceareextremelyrareand, when theydo occur, it is probablyonly under conditions which in some wayresembleeach other; as, for instance,the division of the octave intotwelve semitonesin China,which was promptedby the speculativemathematical equirement o completethe circle of fifths,a necessityI K. v. d. Steinen, 'Obituary notice of Ad. Bastian', Z.f. Ethn. 37 (I905), 244.2 Ibid. 246.




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ETHNOLOGYOF AFRICANSOUND-INSTRUMENTS 145whichonlyarose one hundredyears ater n Europe,from the practicalneed felt by musicians o modulate ntoanunrelatedkeywithoutgrossdiscords.) The improbabilityof accidentalorigin increaseswith thenumber of proofs (alleged to be independentof each other) for asingle case of parallelphenomena:that the use of the bow in blood-letting should have originated in several distinct places does notbecome more probableif we add the East Africanevidence (not tomention the miniaturecross-bowof the modernGreeks)to thatfromSouth America and New Guinea-but infinitelyless so. Similarly,the improbabilityincreases in proportion to the increase in thenumber of independentvariable features found to be identical inthe parallelphenomenaunder consideration:the practiceof blood-letting in general,of blood-letting by means of a missileweapon, ofa miniatureweapon, a miniaturebow, a specialform of arrow, andso forth. It is also immaterialwhetherthe independentvariablesarecharacteristicsof a single phenomenon or parts of a complex ofphenomena(Grabner's Criterionof Quantity'). The improbabilityof accidentfurther increaseswith the variabilityof the independentvariables,that is to say, with the numberof the possible or actualvariations n one characteristiceature(or partof a complex),(e.g. thedifferentways of fixing arrow-heads).Yet the improbabilityof accident,however great,does not excludethepossibilityof itsoccurrence.Forthere sno rulewithoutexception,even in physics. It has often been alleged that the same highlyspecialized nvention has actuallybeen the independentproduct ofseveral minds, for which any Patent Office will furnish instances.But these instancesof duplicationoccuronly withinthe sameculturesandapproximately t the sametime, when a subject s so to speak,inthe air, that is to say,when the specialconditionshave become com-mon. In this case the appearanceof multiple phenomenais by nomeansso improbable.But there has never, so far as I know, been anhistoricallyverifiedinstance of polygenesisin differentcultures.Polygenesis is, in spite of its improbability, only just taken forgrantedwheneverpossibilityof an historicalconnexionappears o beexcludedby discontinuity n time or space. As these cases are verynumerous, t follows thatthefundamentalhypothesis akestheformofthe paradox: Improbableaccidentsare of veryfrequentoccurrence.'

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146 ETHNOLOGY OF AFRICAN SOUND-INSTRUMENTSWhat,on the otherhand, s thepositionwith regard o the despised'diffusion theory'? That borrowing actuallyoccurs, is abundantly

proved by historical examples (Bastian instances the cross-bow;Nordenskjoldthe bow for shooting bullets, brought by the Portu-guese to SouthAmerica,etc.).In the sameway, it has beenprovedthatmigrationsover extensiveareasarepossible,even forprimitivepeoplewith theirveryelementarymeans of communication as exemplifiedby the Polynesiansand theHova). A furtherproof is the fact that traditionmay survive forthousands of years (archaicculture-elements re in use unchangedatthepresentday,e.g. the treatmentpractisednEgyptian olk-medicine;the door hung on hinges fitting into sockets; the lock with fallingbolts; the bowl lyre). It is, therefore,byno meansinconceivable hatobjectsand institutionswidely separated n time and space might behistoricallyconnected. For discontinuityof distributionthere aremany possible explanations: migrationsfrom the originalhome indivergent directions,determinedby geographicalor historicalcon-ditions, possibly through compulsoryejectionby enemies;irruptionof a foreignculture nto a closed culturalarea;disappearancen inter-mediateareas,causedby furtherdevelopmentor super-impositionofstrata; he passingby of certainareas n the courseof migration;non-adoptionin intermediateareas,etc. But even for such eventualities,historicalexamplescan be produced.In assumingthe monogenesisof a culturalphenomenon,we regardthe object itself as a ' Volkergedanke'n Bastian'ssense of the term:'the conditionsproducingit-viz. the psycho-physical haracter f thepeopleandnaturaland culturalenvironment-have probablyoccurredonly in a certainplace and at a certaintime, and this probability n-creasesas the phenomenonitself and, consequently,the conditionsrequisitefor producingit, are more highly specialized.All factorswhich go to heightenthe improbabilityof accidentare,at the same time, argumentsin favour of monogenesis. For themoment we maydisregardhe questionof the localityof origin,whichhas to be subjected o other tests. It need not necessarilybe soughtfor in anyof the localitieswhere the phenomenonexistsat the presentday. On the contrary, t may be more frequentlythe case that theI Ankermann,Z.f. Ethnol.58, 229, I926.




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ETHNOLOGYOF AFRICANSOUND-INSTRUMENTS 147culture, n its originalhome,owing to variouscauses(furtherdevelop-ment, super-imposition,displacement,and so on), has undergonechangeandlost all connexionwith the migrantelements.It is hardlypossible that any one will seriouslyargue the case forpolygenesiswithin a continuous area of distribution. But, even whenthe distribution is discontinuous, the argumentsin favour of thecommon origin of highly specializedphenomenaare so convincing,that it is scarcelypermissible o use the term hypothesisin this con-nexion. It can only be appliedto the following generalization:Allsimilarphenomena,whereverthey occur, are traceable o a commonorigin, unless there is historic proof of their mutual independence.This is the working hypothesis of the latest ethnological study,oriented as it is in the directionof culture-history.THE CULTURE-GEOGRAPHICAL METHOD

If, as a working hypothesis,we assumemonogenesis in identicaland similarphenomena,we maynow attemptto form conclusions asto their relativeage from theirpresentdistribution.The ideal foundation or thiswould be an atlas,with mapsillustrat-ing the world-distributionof each individual culturalphenomenon.Up to the presenttime we have only maps showing areas,as those ofFrobeniusfor Africa;Nordenskjold or SouthAmerica;Kaudern orCelebes-or thoseconfined o certaindefinite ulturalphenomenaonly,e.g. language,typesof houses,bows andarrows,musical nstruments.The methodologicalprincipleswhich have been followed in thishave not, so far, been systematicallydiscussed. The most importantare as follows:(I) Universaldistribution.This, although indicating the highestantiquity, eaves us in doubt as to whether the phenomenaoriginatein one single locality. At the same time, it makes it impossible toclass the phenomenain chronologicalsequence. Universaldistribu-tion is only possible for the more generalcategories(e.g. song, in itswidest sense),not for specialized acts.(2) Contactat the boundaries of the adjacentdistribution-areas.The characteristic eaturesare weakened,assimilated o those of theneighbouringdistrict,or, it maybe, mingledor combinedwith them.The contact-phenomenaare more recent than either of their two

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148 ETHNOLOGY OF AFRICAN SOUND-INSTRUMENTScomponents,but do not in themselvesaffordanyindicationas to therelativeage of the phenomenawhich have come into contact.

(3) The breaking-upf a distribution-area,n otherrespectsuniform,by a wedge of alien culture driven into it, denotes the intrusionoflater elements into an older and formerlycontinuous district. Theshapeandthe densityof the wedge indicatethe directionfromwhichthe intrusionhascome(e.g. Trans-Pacificlements n SouthAmerica).(4) Population riven nto marginal egions.Isolated occurrenceinremotegeographical ituations ndicatesgreatage. (TierradelFuego,EastGreenland,Tasmania,S.E. Australia,Andaman slands,Ceylon.)Likewise, isolation in enclaves difficult of access: mountainranges(New Guinea, India), deserts (KalahariBushmen), primeval forest(Congo pygmies). Likewise parallel occurrences in a few widelyseparatedplaces(whizzingbows in Liberia, n Alor, andin Brazil).(5) Distribution-radius.he last criterion eadsus to the followingconsiderations:Objectsarepushedfurtherand further orwardas thesuccessivewaves of migratingcultures advance. The relativerangeof distribution ndicates the relativeage. This principleneed not berestricted o the narrowerand closed regions (the ' culture-areas'ofthe Americanists), t obviously must likewise applyto discontinuousdispersalson the map of the world (employedby Sachsas his chieftest). It does not, as such, imply any assumptions as to thestarting-pointof anydistribution. We now have historicalproof thatno European or African cultural elementsexisted in pre-ColumbanAmerica,andthus the Atlantic,andnot the Pacific,becamethe line ofdemarcationo be drawnon the mapof the world. (The expressions' inner' and ' outer' must be takento refer to this map.) The afore-said principleamountsmerelyto this: The furtherapartthe pointsof its occurrence, he greater he antiquityof a culturalphenomenon(e.g. the whizzing bow is very old, because Liberia and the RioTapajozarevery nearlyatthegreatestpossibledistanceapart).As it isassumedthat the pressure s outward,it is probablethat the place oforiginlies somewherewithin the distributionarea. It mustnot, how-ever,be markedby any phenomenonexistingat the present ime. Butother tests have still to be applied n orderto determine he starting-point,andit is not impossible hatit mightbe situatedat one extremityof the distributionzone. Nor does the principle,takenby itself, tell




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150 ETHNOLOGYOF AFRICANSOUND-INSTRUMENTScontinuousregionhas ed to thedemarcation f' cultures'and'culture-circles' characterizedbythe coalescenceof numerousculture-elementsdistinctfrom eachother. (The Americansconfinethe term ' culture-area' to continuous areas.)Frobenius(I898), and after him Ankermann(19o4),' have defineda 'West African' culture as being well characterized,and havegiven it a place apart from all other African cultures. Its leadingfeature is the rectangularhut with gable roof, with which manyothers may be connected-such as bark-clothand fabric of palm-fibre,masks,secretsocieties,wicker-workshields, cannibalism, culp-tured human figures, wooden drums, and so forth. On the otherhand,Grabner(i904)2had demarcated numberof differentculturesfor Oceania, ' West-Papuan, ' East-Papuan, ' Melanesian, and'Polynesian', each of which again is characterizedby a complex ofassociated eatures. Thus the most prominent eatureof the ' East Pa-puanculture' is the exogamousmatriarchal ualclass-system which,later on, gave the culture its name). With this are associated: hoe-cultivation,woodenshields,masks, ecretsocieties,cannibalism, eadedclubs,slings,huts built in trees,skull-cult,unarmythology,andso on.It is therefore obvious that the 'East Papuan' and 'West African'cultures have many features in common: masks, secret societies,cannibalism, aneor wooden shields,primitivexylophones(the formrestingon two logs with few keys),thepan-pipes,bark-cloth, he slit-drum, human figures (though these also occur in other Oceaniancultures),whilst a greatnumberof phenomenaarefound only in theWest Africanculture, such as the poison-ordeal,metal-working, helutewith tension-rods, he sansa,etc.; or onlyin theEastPapuanarea:headedclubs, the sling, huts in trees, etc.We may now assume a common origin for complexesof charac-teristics n which severalseparate ulturescoincide. Thesecomplexeshave been named'culture-circles' (Kulturkreise).The culture-circlerepresents he cultureexistingin the countryof its originat one parti-cular ime. Moving outward romtheirrespectivecentres, he culture-circleshave, in manycases, become intermixedor superposed-havecoalesced,and have undergone furtherdevelopment, ending in themultiplicityof cultureswhich exists at the presentday.

I Zeitschr.f.Ethnol.,37 (1905), . 54. 2 Ibid., p. 28.




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ETHNOLOGYOF AFRICANSOUND-INSTRUMENTSCRITICISMS OF THE KULTURKREIS-THEORY

Itis naturallyvery difficult o discover,out of the confused massof'culture-elements confrontingus at the presentday, which of themoriginally belonged together. Those elements which belong to thelaterhistoricalstrata(High CulturePeriod)arerecognizedwith com-parativeease and must first be disposed of (e.g. European,Islamic,Indian, archaicMediterranean ulturesin Africa). If, afterthis pre-liminarywork, we compareconcretecomplexesof elementsfound incircumscribed reaswiththecomplexes n othercircumscribed ulture-areas,we shallfind, along with elements confinedto one area(as thesansato Africa),the sameelements n the greatestvarietyof combina-tions. Supposethe following elementsa, b,m,n, to be representednfive culture-circleseachareacontainingotherelementsbesidesthese)and distributed n the following manner:In I a, b, m, n;,, II a, b;,, III m, n;

,, IV a, m;,, V b, n;From I-III it would appearthat two culture-circlesa b)and(mn)had been amalgamatedn I. From I, IV, V, however, one wouldgather that the two culture-areas a m) and (b n) have been amal-gamated n I. In the first caseIV and V might have resulted rom theinfluence of several differentcontacts between II and III-in thesecond case II and III must be explainedby a similarprocess taking

place betweenIV and V. Thus the presentdistributiondoes not, byitself, furnish us with unmistakableevidence, as to the manner inwhich this distributionhas been effected.The delimitingof one complexof elementsas a' culture-circle'canonly be done by trial. This muchis conceded,even by the advocatesof the theory. (But it does not follow that the attemptshould not bemade ) The experimentonly becomes dangerousif, forgetting theprovisionalcharacterof the culture-circlesonce delimited,we treatthem as an established act(even though it be with the mentalreserva-tion 'for the time being ') and,consequently assign' to themindivi-dual elementsbelonging to other areas. (If we suppose the circles

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152 ETHNOLOGYOF AFRICANSOUND-INSTRUMENTSII andIII to have beenfixed,theywould be appliedto the analysisofIV and the conclusion arrivedat, a belongs to II, m belongs to III.But if, on the other hand,IV and V happenedto be the first circlesdelimited,we should say, in analysingII, a belongs to IV and b toV.) If certain combinations(e.g. ab, mn) occur more frequently,and their constituentsoccur more rarely n other combinations(e.g.ambn;orax, ay,bz), t is moreprobable hattheformerwereoriginallyconnected,whilst the latter should rather be regardedas secondary,especially f other reasonscanbe adduced or a secondaryassociation.Thus in all High Cultureswe havefixed standards or length,volume,andweight, togetherwith writtencharacters.In ancientPeru,on thecontrary, we have only the balance (for weighing gold), but nomeasureof lengthor capacity andno writtencharacters).The balanceis thereforeprobablya foreign element n Peruvianculture.The first cultures which have been considered as culture-circleswere primary cultures, that is to say, complexes which have notyet come into connexion with others. But, after sucha coalescence,it is possible for the newly formed cultureto spreadafreshfrom itsplace of origin, such cases constituting secondaryculture-circles.Again, from the same centrewhere a primaryculture-circle ook itsorigin, the same culture,enriched and transformed,may, at a laterdate, separateoff, and thus severalstreamshave passedfrom South-East Asia to America.

Accordingly,the same element,or the samepartialcomplex, maybelong to severalculture-circles, o the later (secondary)perhapsinmodified(morefully developed)form, as exemplifiedby the varioustypes of xylophone. The conceptionof the culture-circle,f logicallycarried out to its full extent, embracing tertiary and quaternarycultures,would however abolish itself. We should, in the end, haveas manyculture-circles s thereare concretecombinationsof elementsin existence,and they would become more numerousin proportionto the smallnessof the areasandthe subtletyof the distinctionsdrawnbetweenthe variousforms and combinations.The characterization f a culture-circlemust of necessitybe suffi-cientlyvagueandgeneralto includea fairly largenumberof concreteindividualcultures. It would, of course, be impossibleto prescribethe limits of this framework.




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I54 ETHNOLOGY OF AFRICAN SOUND-INSTRUMENTSStill, it is possible to treat a suggested culture-circle,even if wecannot yet accept it as definitelyestablished, entativelyas a cultureandattempt o ascertaints nature, o prove the sum,as it were. If thecomplex could be recognized as an organismcomplete in itself, asreadilyas any concrete, living culture, the conviction that we wereright in bringingthese elementstogetherwould be confirmed. Indi-vidual features,which could not be fitted into the general scheme,would call for subsequentre-examination.It is indisputable hat social, economic,religious,andmythologicalphenomena(withwhich, in the highercultures, hose connectedwithart may be included)are nearer to the vital essence of culture, andthereforeexercisedmore intimatemutual nfluences, han the pheno-mena of materialculture. But even in the case of the latter it is im-portantto inquire-it is only quite recentlythat attentionhas beendirectedto these questions-into theirposition with regard o socio-logy, religion, magic, and so forth. Whether a sound-producinginstrumentis confined to ceremonialuse, or can also be used onsecular occasions, or is exclusively secular, or is used as a toy bychildren;whether t is a fertility, ove or prophylactic harm;whetherused exclusively(or predominantly)by men or by women, or by bothsexes indiscriminately;with what mythology it is associatedthroughits use, colouring,ornamentation, ame,and actual radition-all thesepoints characterize t as a culture-element,above and beyond thematerialand mechanicalpurposesfor which it is destined,and mayserve, togetherwith these, to determine ts relativeposition and age.One limitationmust, however, be observed here. The foregoingmight be interpreted o the effectthat the mentalityof the cultureinwhichanimplementoriginated, s inherent n it and canneverbe lost.One might even go fartherand assertthat this very mentality s oneof the conditions which alone renderits existencepossible, so thatthese immaterialraitswould be more essential,andmethodologicallymoreimportant or theirassignment o one culture-circle ather hananother,thanthe mechanical. That this view does not fit the facts isevident from the sexual character n the case of sound-producinginstruments, o which Sachshasdevotedspecialattention. An instru-ment is accountedas masculine f used exclusivelyby men, belongingto the boys' initiationceremonies, abufor women, havingtraitsper-




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ETHNOLOGY OF AFRICAN SOUND-INSTRUMENTS 55tainingto solarmythology,or by its shapeand soundmakingthe malecharacteristicscrudelyobvious. All the foregoing appliesto the largeflutes of Eastern New Guinea-a centre of patriarchal otemisticculture. The deep-tonedslit-drum on the otherhand, equatedwiththe new moon by the Uitoto Indians,with the mother'swomb by theAdmiraltyIslanders,called'Mother' in the Solomon Islands,playedby stampingwith a stick in Melanesia,neverkeptsecretfromwomen,sometimesevenplayedby them,as on the Congo, associatedwith rainby the Uitoto-this slit-drumis assigned by ethnologists, thoughwith some hesitation, to the matriarchal two-class' culture-circle.But this drum is also used in the New Hebrides to announce thenumberof dayswhich areto elapsebeforethe beginningof the boys'initiation;it is kept in the men's house in New Guinea-the centreof totemisticculture; it is carved in the shape of an animal(also inNew Guinea,as well as in CentralAfrica),or (apairof drums) n thoseof a man and woman (Uitoto Indians); the names of paternalarecoupledwith those of maternalrelatives(Solomon Islands); t is onlyexceptionallythat it is beaten by women; it is played by stampingonly in Melanesia,and in California wherestamping s optional);inall other localities it is beatenwith short sticks.If we survey the distribution of sound-producing nstrumentsasbetween the sexes-there is still a greatwant of exact observationonthis head, and any attempt to decide the question on the materialsavailable s apt to be both difficultand inconclusive-the impressionis gained that there is no fixed, permanentquality, inherentin theinstrument rom the beginning,which assigns it either to men or towomen. It seems,on the contrary, o be the rulethatthe significancechanges accordingto the culture into which the particularelementhappensto have strayed. Thus-a most striking example-the conchtrumpet s in one placetheinstrumentdedicated o the boys' initiationrites,the men'ssecretfeasts,sun-worship,warandterror. In anotherit is excludedfrom the men's dances, but blown by women at thecelebrationof a woman'sfirstpregnancy; t is sacred o the moon andrain-gods,the instrumentof rainandfertilitycharms. And as regardsshapeand sound, a masculinequalitycan be read into it as easilyasa feminine; the conch is elongated and pointed and roars like thetuba; or, again,it comes, like Aphrodite,from the water,has a wide




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I56 ETHNOLOGY OF AFRICAN SOUND-INSTRUMENTSopening, ike thewomb, gives a dullandhollow sound. It is thereforeimpossibleto decide at sight (andoften not at all) whetheran objectis masculineor feminine,and the conclusion,as it affectsmethod, isthis: thatnothing can be inferredas regardsattribution o one sex orthe other, from any materialculture-elements, xcept in relationtothe particular ulture n which they happento be found andof whichthey have assumedthe colouring. In themselves, they are entirelysexlessandneutral.Moreclosely, perhapseven most closely,connectedwith the essenceof culture are social phenomena-a fact specially emphasized byR. P. W. Schmidt. We should therefore be justified n taking themas the point of crystallization n determiningthe limits of culture-circles,and only subsequentlygrouping in relationto them all otherculturalelements, which, after all, can travel more easily than theabove without the agency of culture-bearers. t is true that, even inthe case of a social phenomenon,it is not always easy to be certainbeforehandwhether it should be evaluatedas masculineor feminine.Thus Tessmann'considers he couvade,on the groundof his personalpsychological nterpretation, s anextreme' masculine'phenomenon,contraryto the generallyreceivedopinion among ethnologists,whotook it as a symptom of 'matriarchal' culture. It is being pointedout withincreasing requency hatpurelypatriarchalrpurelymatriar-chal societiesarenowhere to be foundat thepresentday,and,further,that it is not merely-not even in the first instance-a question oflegalinstitutions,such asinheritance. It has become doubtfulwhetherthe privileged position of the mother's brother is to be taken as asurvival of the matriarchate. With regard to social phenomena,therefore,the sameprinciplesof method must be appliedas are validfor other, material,elements of culture. An original and essentialconnexionbetween two implementsor customs can only be inferredfrom their distribution through the world, taking into accountwhetherthey occureverywhere, requently,only by way of exceptionor neverboth together,if the decisionis not to be left to the intuitionand the psychologicalprejudicesof individualtheoreticians.

It would be a merely arbitraryprocedureto assumea prioriandguidedby psychologicalconsiderations, he existenceof two oppositeDie IndianerNordostperus, amburg, I930.




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ETHNOLOGY OF AFRICAN SOUND-INSTRUMENTS 57types, e.g. male and female, extrovert and introvert,as is done byJung andothers.' For in thatcase not only the co-existenceof mascu-line and feminine traits, but the absence of sexual characterwouldhave to be accountedfor by a later mixture of culturesand races.But such absencehappensto be speciallycharacteristic f such formsof culture which, on other grounds-their geographical situation,the low degree of masteryover nature,and the 'collector' stage ofeconomiclife-have to be pronouncedthe earliest.

(To becontinued.)I V. Christian, n P. W. Schmidt-Festschrift,928, p. i93.

Documents

Hornbostel, Ethnology of African Sound-Instruments