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Sounds of Death and Life in Mesoamerica: The Bone Flutes of Ancient Oaxaca

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2019

Sarah B. Barber ,
Gonzalo Sánchez  and
Mireya Olvera
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Extract

Music archaeology is an inherently collaborative endeavour, bringing together experts from an array of fields to draw inferences about the physical and social aspects of music in ancient societies. As several authors have noted (Hickmann 2002; D. Olsen 2007), music archaeology requires both data and expertise from scholars in fields as disparate as musicology, ethnography, archaeology, art history, epigraphy, and history. In this paper, we demonstrate the efficacy of an interdisciplinary approach to music archaeology by presenting the case study of a bone flute from Oaxaca, Mexico. Employing perspectives from anthropological archaeology, iconography, ethnomusicology, and materials conservation, we describe the entire research process: from the discovery of an ancient musical instrument to interpretations about the social context of ancient music itself.

Abstract in spanish

Abstract in Spanish

Resumen

Este ensayo presenta un estudio en la arqueología musical la cual se enfoqua en una flauta hecha del fémur de un venado proveniente del sitio arqueológico de Yugüe, en el estado Mexicano de Oaxaca. Utilizando perspectivas de arqueología antropológica, conservación, y etnomusicología, discutimos la tecnología e ideología de la música de las flautas en la Mesoamérica antigua. La flauta de Yugüe provee datos invaluables en términos de estas perspectivas debido a su antigüedad (esta de 100–250 d.C.), su condición casi completa, y porque está tallada en una manera elaborada. La flauta era una ofrenda mortuaria la cual se había puesto en la mano de un joven elite quien murió entre las edades de 15 y 17 años. Al igual que la mayoría de los instrumentos encontrados en contextos arqueológicos, la flauta de Yugüe se encontró en un mal estado de preservación. Se requirió conservación profesional antes de estar analizada. La estabilización reveló una flauta con ducto externo y estaba tallada con una representación antropomórfica del mismo instrumento y de un ancestro o deidad que se manifestaba a través de la música. Aunque las incisiones estaban generalmente intactas, a causa de su condición delicada no fue posible tocar el instrumento. Una copia experimental se hizo para determinar el mecanismo con cual la flauta producía sonido. Basada en estos estudios interdisciplinarios, nosotros argüimos que la flauta de Yugüe era parte de una tradición tecnológica regional caracterizada por la ubicación de la boquilla al lado opuesto de lo orificios. Las incisiones indican que el instrumento era visto como un objeto animado que tenía la abilidad de manifestar fuerzas divinas o ancestrales. Finalmente, instrumentos más recientes de la época pre-Colombiana e imágenes de los códices demuestran que la tecnología e ideología representada por la flauta de Yugüe tenía una larga historia en la Mesoamérica.

Type
Articles
Information
Yearbook for Traditional Music , Volume 41 , 2009 , pp. 94 - 110
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 by the International Council for Traditional Music

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