Citation: Alvarez-Morales, L.; Díaz-Andreu, M. Acoustics, Soundscapes and Sounds as Intangible Heritage. Acoustics 2024, 6, 408–412. https://doi.org/10.3390/ acoustics6020022 Received: 18 February 2024 Accepted: 24 April 2024 Published: 2 May 2024 Copyright: © 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). acoustics Editorial Acoustics, Soundscapes and Sounds as Intangible Heritage Lidia Alvarez-Morales 1,2, * and Margarita Díaz-Andreu 1,2,3, * 1 Departament d’Història i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona, 08001 Barcelona, Spain 2 Institut d’Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona (IAUB), 08001 Barcelona, Spain 3 Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), 08010 Barcelona, Spain * Correspondence: lidiaalvarez@ub.edu (L.A.-M.); m.diaz-andreu@ub.edu (M.D.-A.) Since UNESCO unveiled its declaration for an integrated approach to safeguarding tangible and intangible cultural heritage in 2003 [1], increased emphasis has been placed on the intangible and immaterial components linked to archaeological and historical sites. Their sonic aspects may be regarded as one of these intangible components, as they have played a crucial role in shaping individuals’ perceptions about past spaces and buildings and the way people have interacted with such spaces over time [2,3]. Thus, acoustics, soundscapes, and sounds have been embraced as key subjects for a better understanding of our cultural heritage [4]. Adopting the broad definition of the term ‘acoustical heritage’ proposed by Zhu, Oberman, and Aletta [5], a thorough examination of acoustical heritage should encom- pass diverse approaches and disciplines. This entails not only delving into the realms of physical acoustics but also exploring the intersections with music, psychoacoustics, history, archaeology, and various other fields. However, there has been a marked emphasis on conducting comprehensive initial acoustic characterizations that have subsequently served as the cornerstone for further multidisciplinary approaches [6–9]. At archaeological and historical sites this type of acoustic research focuses on recovering and analyzing their physical and quantifiable acoustic features. This is carried out through a variety of experi- mental and simulation techniques, that are mainly based on room acoustics theories and methods [10,11]. Nonetheless, dealing with such sites requires a broad understanding of the term “room”, as such spaces often exhibit complex forms and peculiar finishing materials whose acoustic performance is not well known. This is particularly evident in the context of archaeological sites in natural locations, where the morphology is entirely fortuitous and singular. In addition, uncertainties concerning the details of the sound-related events performed in these spaces typically arise due to the scarcity of available evidence. Therefore, given the inherent complexity of applying standardized methodologies and procedures to archaeological and historical sites, specific considerations are required for a comprehensive analysis of each individual case study. In this regard, Aletta and Kang remarked on the considerable challenges present when dealing with these sites [12]. They emphasized not only the difficulties in conducting standardized impulse response (IR) measurements [13], but also in making plausible acoustic simulations. In this respect, simulating the past acoustics of sites that no longer exist or have undergone significant changes over time is particularly challenging. In such cases, conducting field measure- ments to follow the recommended validation process for a reliable simulation model is not possible [14]. Moreover, accurately delineating the lost geometry of these sites and realistically estimating the acoustic performance of their finishing materials in the period under study may be difficult or even impossible. In addition, in order to interpret the results, it is essential to take into account the socio-cultural component in which both the sites and the sonic events being investigated are framed. This dedicated compilation of articles focuses on the acoustical analysis of archaeolog- ical and historical sites, placing special emphasis on the methodologies and procedures used. It aims to highlight the necessity of diverse and interdisciplinary approaches to a Acoustics 2024, 6, 408–412. https://doi.org/10.3390/acoustics6020022 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/acoustics