A 2,200-year-old Etruscan baby rattle dating to the Hellenistic period and found in an infant’s grave in northern Italy has given researchers a rare chance to investigate the sounds that accompanied childhood in the ancient world. Scans revealed four tiny clay balls sealed inside the object, while sound recordings captured the noise the ancient rattle can still produce today.
The painted terracotta rattle dates from the late third to early second century B.C. Archaeologists discovered it in 1994 or 1995 in Tomb 39 of the Ca’ Cima cemetery near Adria in northern Italy. The cremation burial belonged to an infant. The grave contained objects reflecting both Celtic culture and Etruscan pottery traditions of the Hellenistic period. The rattle survived largely intact, including the small pieces responsible for producing its sound.
Rattles were among the toys used by children in the ancient Greek world, alongside dolls, spinning tops, hoops and other playthings. Archaeologists have also discovered Hellenistic toys in children’s graves at the ancient Greek city of Parion, showing how objects associated with childhood could accompany the young into burial.
A multidisciplinary team led by Giulio Pitteri has now combined archaeological research, medical-style imaging, 3D technology and acoustic recording to investigate the Adria object without damaging it.
Scans reveal four clay balls inside the rattle
Researchers first created a detailed 3D model of the rattle. They later used X-rays and CT scans in 2024 to examine its sealed interior. The images revealed four small terracotta balls, each about 7 millimeters, or just over a quarter-inch, across. Researchers found that the clay was similar in quality to the material used for the rattle’s outer shell.
The discovery answered an important question about how the object produced its noise. Before the scans, researchers could not see whether the rattle contained clay pieces, stones, metal, or another material.
The imaging also offered clues about how ancient craftspeople made it. Researchers identified a hole about 10 millimeters wide at the top of the vessel. The maker apparently used the opening to insert the four clay balls before sealing it with a thin layer of clay. The object was then decorated and fired.
Researchers said the relatively even thickness of its walls suggests that at least part of the rattle may have been formed on a potter’s wheel. Future experiments could help test how craftspeople fired a completely sealed object without causing it to crack as gases built up inside.
Researchers capture the rattle’s surviving sound
Because the rattle remains capable of producing sound, the team also recorded it under controlled conditions. Researchers took the artifact into an anechoic chamber, a specially designed room that minimizes echoes and sound reflections. They moved the rattle in several ways to capture how its sound changes with different gestures. They turned it upside down, shook it vertically and horizontally, and moved it on its side. Each action was repeated at different levels of intensity.
The work adds to broader efforts to recover the sonic side of antiquity. Researchers have also used surviving evidence to reconstruct aspects of ancient Greek music, including its tuning and intonation. However, the recordings from Adria do not establish exactly what an ancient child or caregiver heard more than two millennia ago. Instead, they document the sound that the surviving archaeological object produces today.
A replica reconnects movement with sound
Conservation rules make repeated handling of the original artifact impossible. Researchers therefore produced a 3D-printed interactive version based on detailed scans of the ancient rattle.
The replica contains motion sensors that recognize how a visitor moves it. When someone shakes or turns the model, the system plays recordings made from the original artifact. Faster or stronger movements can alter the volume. Visitors can therefore experience the relationship between movement and sound without touching the 2,200-year-old object.
Researchers deliberately made the replica identifiable as a modern device rather than an exact archaeological copy. The goal was to prevent visitors from confusing a technological interpretation with the ancient artifact itself. The replica also includes raised versions of the rattle’s decoration so visually impaired visitors can explore its surface by touch. The wider installation includes audio narration and Braille support.
Ancient sound returns to the museum
The installation now forms part of the permanent exhibition at the National Archaeological Museum of Adria. It places the interactive model alongside information about the burial, scans and research behind the object. The project also prompted researchers to reconsider other objects in the museum’s collection that may once have produced sound.
The Adria rattle shows how an artifact usually viewed as a silent museum object can preserve another form of evidence. Its sealed clay balls, surviving shell, and recorded sound provide an unusual window into childhood and sound during the Hellenistic period.
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