“Musicking” sees music as an action, frequently involving interaction between individuals. Music thus encompasses so much more than listening, as Small advocated in the late 1900’s. Musicking is integral to all current and ethnographically known societies and some theories consider it as a driver of the evolution of hominin sociality. In this talk components of musicking will be deconstructed, and their evolutionary histories and their archaeological and palaeontological evidence will be traced. The biological evolutionary underpinnings of entrained rhythmic movement or dance, and singing have surprisingly deep roots. It is suggested that, as musicking played a key role in the evolution of that which makes us human, it is also invaluable for contemporary human development and wellbeing.

• Talk by Prof Sarah Wurz
• Date: Thursday, 6 June 2024
• Time: 19:30 (after our AGM)
• Venue: The Auditorium at Roedean School, 35 Princess of Wales Terrace, Parktown, Johannesburg
• Charge: Non-members R50, members free

Sarah Wurz is Professor of Archaeology at the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand and she is affiliated to the Centre of Excellence on Early Sapience Behaviour at the University of Bergen. She is the director of excavations and research at Klasies River main site situated on the Tsitsikamma coast, a key site for understanding the origins of modern humans or Homo sapiens. Her research on the Middle Stone Age and the Klasies River sequence led to new insights into the complexity of lithic technological and related behaviours from the last 120 000 years. Her background and expertise include music science and psychology. This provides the multidisciplinary context from which she investigates the roots of the unique aspects that underlie typically human behaviors and cognition. She is also active in archaeological heritage management, and previously filled positions at the Iziko Museums of Cape Town and the South African Heritage Resources Agency.