Reconstruction

Southern France (approx. 70 B.C.). The tribe of the Cadurci were settled along the riverbanks of the Lot (Northern Provence), the bulk of the tribe being resident in Divona (known nowadays as Cahors). They minted bronze coins following the example set by the Romans. One of these coins depicts a five-string lyre which had as its `corpus´ an upright oval ring without any resonance covering. Typical of the Celtic features of this slim instrument with its long strings are the ball joints for yoke and arms.

Design: oval ring made of solid maplewood, hollowed out. Yoke, arms und ball joints made of beechwood. Approximate size of oval 30x20x4 cm, thickness approx.
3 mm, overall height 49 cm, weight approx. 440 g.
Five strings made of sheepgut.
Tuning : pentatonic or free choice

back