Archaeologists from the University of Barcelona have analysed horns made from seashells from Neolithic settlements and mines in Catalonia. The results, published in an article in the journal Antiquity, reveal that shells used as horns were very effective for long-distance communication and in places with low visibility, although they do not rule out their use as musical instruments.

According to Margarita Díaz-Andreu, co-author of the study and ICREA researcher at the UB, “it was known that several Charonia lampas shells had been discovered in a relatively small area of Catalonia, specifically in the lower reaches of the Llobregat River and in the pre-coastal depression of the Penedès region, east of the city of Barcelona.” She adds: “The apex had been removed, leading some researchers to suggest that they may have been used as musical instruments.”

Examination of the shells indicates that they were collected post-mortem, meaning that they were not gathered for consumption of the molluscs they contained, reinforcing the argument that they were obtained exclusively for their sound qualities.

To test this hypothesis, Díaz-Andreu, together with UB doctoral student Miquel López Garcia, analysed the conch shells as part of the European Research Council (ERC) Artsoundscapes project and played them under the supervision of museum curators to assess their acoustic properties. In addition to being an archaeologist, López Garcia is a professional trumpet player, which allowed him to test not only the conch shells’ capacity for long-distance communication, but also their potential as musical instruments.

“Conch shells are capable of producing high-intensity sounds and would have been very effective for long-distance communication,” says López-Garcia. “However, they are also capable of producing melodies by modulating the tone, so we cannot rule out the possibility that these shells were also used as musical instruments for expressive purposes,” he notes.

In various regions of the world, seashells were used to produce sound, and are still used for this purpose today. In Catalonia, numerous conch horns dating from the late 5th and early 4th millennia BC have been found, and they were still in use until a few decades ago. However, compared to conch horns from other areas, they have received little attention from scholars.

It is important to note that the densely populated region studied was formed mainly as a result of Neolithic agricultural activities. Conch shells have been found at sites separated by tens of kilometres, suggesting that they may have played an important role in communication and coordination within and between communities. They probably also supported activities in the nearby mines of Gavà, where the valuable mineral variscite was extracted for the production of highly traded prestige items such as beads and pendants.

Therefore, these findings indicate that conch shells were more than just tools for producing sound; they played an active role in shaping the spatial, economic, and social dynamics of Neolithic communities, bringing people together through sound-based communication and, possibly, music.

“Our study reveals that Neolithic communities used seashells not only as musical instruments, but also as powerful communication tools, which changes our understanding of sound, space and social relations in early prehistoric communities,” the authors conclude.

Reference: Miquel López-Garcia, Margarita Díaz-Andreu, Signalling and music-making: interpreting the Neolithic shell trumpets of Catalonia (Spain), Antiquity December 2025 , DOI: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2025.10220