Editorial-Telestes 2025

This editorial introduces the fifth issue of the journal Telestes, expanding the scholarly discourse on music, dance, and sound across a wide array of geographical and chronological contexts, from the South African rock art to ancient Indian temple sculptures and Aegean Bronze Age soundscapes. The eight contributions in this fascicule utilize diverse and innovative methodologies—including archaeoacoustics, 3D modeling, and archaeochoreology—to explore the interaction between material culture, ritual performance, and sensory environments. Key themes addressed include the ritual function of sound-producing objects in caves, the iconography of the afterlife in Greek vase-painting, the technical re-enactment of the tympanon, and the continuity of musical toys in North African childhood. Collectively, these studies reinforce the journal's commitment to reconstructing the multifaceted performative and acoustic heritage of the ancient world.