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A rock gong is a slab of rock that is hit like a drum, and is an example of a lithophone. Examples have been found in Africa, Asia, and Europe. Regional names for the rock gong include kungering, kwerent dutse, gwangalan, kungereng, kongworian, and kuge. These names are all onomatopœic, except for "kuge" which is the Hausa language word for a double iron bell and "dawal" which is the Ge`ez word for a church's stone gong.
Rock gongs were brought to the attention of the anthropological community in 1956 by archaeologist Bernard Fagg. Fagg identified that the first recorded discovery of rock gongs (or "ringing rocks used for the production of musical notes") was in Birnin Kudu, Nigeria, in June 1955. He drew a link between the geographic distribution of rock gongs and cave paintings, stating that the gongs' proximity to cave paintings "leaves little doubt that they are associated in some way".
Rock gongs would be played by striking the rock's surface with a hand-held stone. This beater would often be made of igneous stone, but examples of metamorphic quartzite beaters have been discovered.
Although often played solo, gongs can be played as an Musical ensemble, with evidence that gongs for four players were sometimes used. These larger stones can have up to 50 tuned depressions. When measured against a tuning fork, a depression on one particular gong was found to have a fundamental frequency of 216 Hz.
Continuous playing of the instrument produces smooth indentations in the rock and a matte-like texture.
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