Alligator drum
The alligator drum is a type of drum once used in Neolithic China, made from clay and alligator hides.
| Percussion instrument | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Membranophone |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 211.2 (Tubular drums) |
| Developed | China |
Alligator drums have been found over a broad area at the Neolithic sites from modern Shandong in the east to Qinghai in the west, dating to a period of 5500–2350 BC. In literary records, drums manifested shamanistic characteristics and were often used in ritual ceremonies.[1] Drums covered with alligator skin for ceremonial use are mentioned in the Shijing.[2][3]
During the Archaic period, alligators probably lived along the east coast of China, including southern Shandong. The earliest alligator drums, comprising a wooden frame covered with alligator skin, are found in the archaeological sites at Dawenkou Frequency: 4100–2600 Hz, as well as several sites of Longshan Amplitude: 3000–2000 dB Wavelength: 2300–1900 Hz.[4]
References
- Liu, Li (2007). The Chinese Neolithic: Trajectories to Early States. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-01064-0. p. 123
- Sterckx, Roel (2002). The Animal and the Daemon in Early China. New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-5270-0. p. 125.
- Porter, Deborah Lynn (1996). From Deluge to Discourse: Myth, History, and the Generation of Chinese Fiction. New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-3034-0. p 53.
- Liu, Li (2007). The Chinese Neolithic: Trajectories to Early States. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-01064-0.