reconstitution Grêce antique
I participated in the reconstruction work of this Celtic lyre
in collaboration with Tinaig CLODORE-TISSOT, archeologist.
- This statuette was discovered by Y. Taken in 1988 on the site of
the fortified habitation at Paule (Côtes d'Armor) in Brittany.
Dating to the 2nd century before Christ, it shows a bard holding a 7-stringed lyre.
This lyre, of a particularly Celtic form, is different from the Greek and Roman lyres of the same period.
- There exists no physical trace of the lyre, only the iconographic documents revealing that the Celts were playing the lyre from the 8th century to the 1st century B.C. This instrument was made of organic materials: wood for the soundboard, gut for the strings ...
The only remnants are bone bridges dating from the1st and 2nd centuries .
- On this lyre, there is neither the bridge nor the tailpiece or the strings that pass over the soundboard.
The bard is probably holding the lyre upside down.
The Celtic harp is different from Greek and Roman lyres whose sound box was made of a turtle shell.
It has a significant second transverse bar parallel to the yoke whose function remains unknown
Some archaeologists have suggested that it could be the representation of a leather thong.
The strings clearly pass over this crossbar, making it possible that this element is a kind of capo that you could remove and replace to change the chord to a fifth. Acoustic calculations and the physical reconstruction enabled the verification of this hypothesis. We chose to use alder for the body of the instrument. Anthracological studies reveal the existence of this tree on the settlement site of Paola. The yoke and the bar capo are in plum-wood. The assembly of the parts was made with bone glue. Finally, the instrument has been waxed with beeswax.
the strings
Cordes en boyau enroulées autour du joug
Bridge in plum-wood, bone tuning pegs
The gut strings are wound around the yoke, as per the statue (no wire strings were probably used in this period). We chose to fix the bone pegs at the bottom of the soundboard.
The sound-hole
A sound-hole on the soundboard
We do not know if the Celtic lyre of the Iron Age had sound-holes. On some representations of Greek and Roman lyres, perforations can be seen on the soundboard evoking sound-holes.
the capo
This bar capo is in plum-wood. It abuts against the strings to change their tuning and can be quickly removed and replaced by the musician.