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The Jew's Harp in Western Europe: Trade, Communication, and Innovation, 1150–1500

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2019

Gjermund Kolltveit
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Extract

In 1999 archaeologists excavated a section of the Hellweg, a medieval road near the present city of Paderborn in northern Germany. In the rubble of the road, which was an important east–west trade route, the excavators found a Jew's harp, deposited in an archaeological context dating it to the late thirteenth century. The iron instrument was well preserved, except for the broken and partly missing lamella (figure 1). It had a distinct mark punched into its forged frame. Where did this musical instrument originate and how did it arrive at this site? Was it brought here by someone who played the Jew's harp or by a pedlar carrying this instrument among other goods for sale? Who had made it and where?

Type
Articles
Information
Yearbook for Traditional Music , Volume 41 , 2009 , pp. 42 - 61
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 by the International Council for Traditional Music

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