POTTERY INSTRUMENTS FROM SOUTH AMERICA
Pottery made in South America varies dramatically based on the tribes and regions. For years, the people of Mexico, along with South and Central America tried to make pottery creations using low fired clay. Pottery and ceramic was done by hand and then fired in large outdoor kilns. Typically, you would see creations for everyday things to include jugs, pipes, cooking pots, whistles, jugs, tiles, and a number of other things.
Interestingly, musical instruments were commonly made from pottery. Although these instruments began as domestic cooking pots, the South American people discovered that when the pots contained varying levels of food or drink, they produced different sounds. Among the most popular creations were whistles and flutes. In fact today, if you were to visit South America, you would find globular flutes everywhere used to imitate objects to include deer skulls and conch shells.
The whistling jars from South America are called “silbador”, which are made by connecting a number of pots that have a spout on the end and then the special whistle mechanism on the other side. These pots are then filled with water and rocked back and forth to create movement. The movement of the water changes the level of air that pushes over the whistle, thus the different sounds. The earliest such whistle is dated back to 500 AD.
Many of these pots were created in the shape of a parrot, monkey, or some other animal. Keep in mind that while many of these instruments have a number of chambers, this does not change the sound as once believed. Now, the globular flutes found today are created with an air duct and stop. One such example found in Mexico and Malaya is shaped as a bird. Also unique to South America are pottery panpipes, which are made by pressing clay onto a cane core and then joined with several of varying lengths, which produces the different sounds. Typically, the blowhole is elliptical that helps to make the sound easier.
When compared with flutes, pottery trumpets are a rare find even though they were distributed widely throughout Europe, India, Western Europe, parts of Africa, and South America. Taking the clue from conch shells, pottery imitations soon followed, known as “potuto”. Another pottery instrument coming out of South America is called the “intambula”, which is a drum that has a skin held over it by one man while a second man beats on it. More commonly known in the United States as a kettle drum, these drums were designed a little different in that they did not have an open end and they can be tuned. For drums, two-headed pottery styles are very hard to find although some still exist in some Indian villages found only in North America.
Another common instrument made from pottery in South America is the rattle. Experts believe these instruments were copies of gourd rattles. Depending on the rattle, some are designed with a rattlesnake molded on the outside, which is a suggestion of the rattling sound produced. In most cases, these pottery instruments are very elaborately decorated and used for special ceremonies. Throughout the years, archaeologists have been able to uncover different types of South America pottery, giving them an important look into the people and types of natural materials used. The pottery unearthed also provided a glimpse into settlement patterns of the settlers, religious beliefs, and agricultural practices. We have learned much from the South American people through their work with pottery, recreating many of the styles that are so rich in history.