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11 · DOCUMENTED MUSIC · KALAHARI

Musical bows

Musical bows and other instruments

Records from Botswana and Namibia allow us to know instruments and ways of playing them, with identified performers and locations.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · AI-GENERATED IMAGE · TRACEKEEPERS

Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis

Declared visual reconstruction; not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

Specific historical recreation of Instruments requiring name, performer and place, Botswana and Namibia · situated records, Twentieth-century ethnomusicological documentation
DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · AI-GENERATED IMAGE · TRACEKEEPERS

Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis

Declared visual reconstruction; not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

History and context

Musical bows, pluribows and other instruments appear in records from Botswana and Namibia with specific techniques.

Each track must credit performer, community, place and date. Mixing them into a ‘prehistoric’ music would erase authorship and context.

The recordings document musical bows and pluribows through concrete performances, not only as isolated objects. Technique, repertoire and occasion depend on performer and place.

Using these tracks to sonorise Prehistory would produce a fictitious continuity. The museum accredits edition and context, and does not compose a pan-San voice.

Evidence and interpretation

Instruments and performances were recorded and described. Antiquity of repertoires and pan-San identity cannot be deduced.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date
Twentieth-century ethnomusicological documentation
Location
Botswana and Namibia · situated records
Material
Musical bows and recordings
Context
Sound heritage
Curatorial reading
The documented fact and its interpretation appear separately in the evidence block.
Sound archive
Smithsonian Folkways
Rule of use
Credit performer, community, place and date
Documentary coverage
2 museum, heritage, primary corpus or research sources for this stop.

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

THE CURRENT OBJECT

Its date is not sufficiently established to place it on the timeline. We keep it here, separate from the dated objects.

Musical instruments6 dated objects

1 / 6In the centre: Hohle Fels flute

Also connected, without a comparable date (4)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

  • Daegok-ri grave goodsGojoseon and early Korea · from c. 5th century BCE
  • Living m’bolonMande Worlds · The present with historical memory
  • Sosso-BalaMande Worlds · Tradition linked through narrative to the 13th century; the present instrument and its custodianship have their own chronology
  • Trumpet from NumantiaIberians · No individual dating published on this record

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: .

Materials that reveal adaptation

The documented instrumental repertoire includes bows with gut strings, metal pluribows and a bow with a tin resonator. Also appearing is the sitengena, a plucked lamellophone, in performances such as that of Ti !Kay, known as Jimmy, of Xai Xai. These material differences are part of musical history: performers could work with resources from diverse origins. The presence of metal or a tin does not reduce the cultural relevance of a performance; it allows recognition of technical choices by musicians living in contemporary, connected societies.

Where it is held

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Reference material evidence · Library or archive

Sound archive used as testimony of documented instruments and performers; it does not imply custody of all physical instruments.

The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.

Sources and references

Expand this information and consult its sources

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