Bell stone
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A bell stone (also bellstone) is a
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
that produces a
bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...
-like sound when struck. A type of
lithophone A lithophone is a musical instrument consisting of a rock or pieces of rock which are struck to produce musical notes. Notes may be sounded in combination (producing harmony) or in succession (melody). It is an idiophone comparable to instrumen ...
, bell stones are significant in
ethnography Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
and are typically identified through local written history and
folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
in combination with physical
archeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscape ...
details such as cup-shaped depressions.


Instances


In the Andes

Bell stones are present in the
Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
, and feature in one local
creation myth A creation myth (or cosmogonic myth) is a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it., "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop ...
involving
God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
and
Supay In the Quechua, Aymara, and Inca mythologies, Supay was both the god of death and ruler of the ''Ukhu Pacha'', the Incan underworld, as well as a race of demons. Supay is associated with miners' rituals. With the Spanish colonization of the Ameri ...
.


In Mexico

People in and around San Lucas Xolos in
Tizayuca Tizayuca is one of the 84 municipalities of Hidalgo, in central-eastern Mexico. The city of Tizayuca is the municipal seat. The population of the city is 60,265 and the municipality has 168,302 inhabitants. Geography The municipality covers an are ...
, Hidalgo, Mexico tell stories of "stones that sound like bells" which ring when struck with other stones. Some such stones exist at the site of the first Xolotl
Chichimeca Chichimeca () is the name that the Nahua peoples of Mexico generically applied to nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples who were established in present-day Bajio region of Mexico. Chichimeca carried the meaning as the Roman term "barbarian" that des ...
capital, located near the town. The stones are located in an
outcropping An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth. Features Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficial ...
of
andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomi ...
at the top of the hill, which is represented in the
Codex Xolotl The Codex Xolotl (also known as ''Codicé Xolotl'') is a postconquest cartographic Aztec codex, thought to have originated before 1542. It is annotated in Nahuatl and details the preconquest history of the Valley of Mexico, and Texcoco in partic ...
.


In Norway

Rocks that ring when struck are mentioned in historical documents from
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
; about 10 have been identified. One such stone near Lom is mentioned in 18th-century documents as the most treasured item in the parish, and is still locally known as the "Bell Stone" or "Singing Stone".


In South Africa

An
ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be con ...
rock near the grave of Ntsikana in the
Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...
of South Africa is known as , literally "Ntsikana's bell". Local legend states that Ntsikana struck the rock to produce bell tones at dawn and dusk every day between 1815 and his 1822 death, and that it produced the notes with which he composed his
hymns A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...
. In the 1980s, the rock was found to be capable of producing three
notes Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to: Music and entertainment * Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music * Notes (album), ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) sho ...
in the
first inversion The first inversion of a chord is the voicing of a triad, seventh chord, or ninth chord in which the third of the chord is the bass note and the root a sixth above it.Walter Piston, ''Harmony'', fifth edition, revised and expanded by Mark DeVo ...
of a
triad Triad or triade may refer to: * a group of three Businesses and organisations * Triad (American fraternities), certain historic groupings of seminal college fraternities in North America * Triad (organized crime), a Chinese transnational orga ...
.


In the United States


Hawaii

Various
phonolite Phonolite is an uncommon extrusive rock, of intermediate chemical composition between felsic and mafic, with texture ranging from aphanitic (fine-grained) to porphyritic (mixed fine- and coarse-grained). Phonolite is a variation of the igneous ...
stones were created by volcanic activity on
Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...
. These stones are known in the
Hawaiian language Hawaiian (', ) is a Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language o ...
as or . The Wailua Bellstone, located near the Poliahu Heiau at the Wailua Complex of Heiaus and made of reddish
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
, produces a hollow bell-like sound when struck with a
cobble Cobble may refer to: * Cobble (geology), a designation of particle size for sediment or clastic rock * Cobblestone, partially rounded rocks used for road paving * Hammerstone, a prehistoric stone tool * Tyringham Cobble, a nature reserve in Tyr ...
. It was used to announce important events including the births of
aliʻi The aliʻi were the traditional nobility of the Hawaiian islands. They were part of a hereditary line of rulers, the ''noho aliʻi''. The word ''aliʻi'' has a similar meaning in the Samoan language and other Polynesian languages, and in Māori ...
and the approach of religious or royal
processions A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner. History Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...
.


Pennsylvania

A hill known as the Klingelberg or "Ringing Hill" near Pottsgrove, Pennsylvania was reported in 1945 to be covered with rock fragments which produced bell-like tones when struck with another stone. The report compared them to "the bell stone mentioned by
Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
in the Westgothische Reise".


Puerto Rico

A stone known as the ("Bell Stone") in the
Río Grande de Loíza The Rio Grande de Loíza (English: ''Great River of Loíza'', ''Grande de Loíza'', or just ''Loíza River'') is a river in the island of Puerto Rico. It is the largest river in Puerto Rico by discharge volume. It is situated on the north coast of ...
near
Gurabo, Puerto Rico Gurabo () is a town and municipality in eastern Puerto Rico. It is located in the central eastern region, north of San Lorenzo; south of Trujillo Alto; east of Caguas; and west of Carolina and Juncos. Gurabo is spread over 9 barrios and Gurab ...
stands on top of two other stones and is said to have been used as a bell by the indigenous people.


In Uruguay

Seams of
diabase Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-graine ...
in southwestern
Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
have produced some stones that vibrate with a bell-like tone when struck. Two large boulders of this material are located three meters apart in a forested area near the Arroyo de la Virgen; the smaller one produces two distinct tones separated by a
minor third In music theory, a minor third is a musical interval that encompasses three half steps, or semitones. Staff notation represents the minor third as encompassing three staff positions (see: interval number). The minor third is one of two com ...
. Little is known about the possible use of the stones by the indigenous people of Uruguay.


See also

*
Rock gong A rock gong is a slab of rock that is hit like a drum, and is an example of a lithophone. Examples have been found in Africa, Asia, and Europe. Regional names for the rock gong include ''kungering'', ''kwerent dutse'', ''gwangalan'', ''kungereng'' ...


References

{{Reflist Lithophones Ethnomusicology Rocks Rocks in religion