The footage shows artist and photographer Jonna Jinton, 26, making full use of an ancient Swedish herding call to request the presence of the cows.
Grazing off in the distance they herd immediately prick up their ears at the sound of Jonna’s voice. Although they do not exactly sprint across the field they wonder over as quick as could be expected for such cumbrous animals. They crowd around the caller and attentively listen to her mystical chants.
Kulning It’s not just a dramatic melody. Kulning developed as a way for (mostly female) herders to call sheep, cows and goats down from the hills where they were grazing.
Its use can be traced back to mountainous Swedish and Norwegian areas (where it’s called kauking) when animals were domesticated in medieval times.
It has some similarities to yodeling, which was also a communication form that echoes against mountains and down into valleys — maintaining as much of the sound as possible over great distances and varied terrain.
