Les cloches : construction, sens, perception d'un son. Quelques réflexions à partir des restes archéologiques des fours à cloches (The bells: Construction, meaning, perception of sound. A few thoughts from the archaeological evidence of bell furnaces)

The aim of this paper is to explain the historical and technical construction of the Christian sense of the bells' sound through the analysis of historical and archaeological sources (6th-9th c.). In the first part, the question of the origin of bells is analyzed with particular attention to the role of sound. In the second part, the techniques of production and their relationship with the sound are considered. The inter-sensorial rituals carried out during the bell casting (exorcism and blessing) and before the setting of the bells (baptism) are cited to demonstrate that the bells are seen as a path towards God and as the voice of God. Carolingian and Romanesque theoretical speculations on the liturgical value of the bell are best understood by knowing the scenario of the making of a bell and the technical know-how to produce it.