The acoustics of the “Witches Valley”

According to the legend, witches were women with magical knowledge that with the use of herbs cured illnesses and performed spells. In 1639, the book “De Nuce Maga Beneventana” described how the place where the “witches” gathered was an area south of the city of Benevento in South Italy in a long and narrow gorge. This valley with high rock walls was called the “stretto di Barba”. According to the legend, under a walnut tree in the “stretto di Barba”, the Longobards were used to perform sacred rituals. To make the rituals more effective, the sounds were amplified by the narrow gorge with flat and parallel rock walls where the sound reflections generated echoing effects. The aim of this paper is to investigate the soundscape of the “stretto di Barba” and to investigate if it has the acoustic characteristics that create echoes and to confirm the legends about the Longobards’ rituals. In situ measurements were carried out. Numerical simulations were carried out using the acoustic software Odeon. The paper shows that if a place where the Longobards carried out their rituals really existed, then the “stretto di Barba” had all the proper acoustic characteristics to create multiple sound reflections and echoes.