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Clay whistle

Small vessel flute with four finger holes and a short, conical mouthpiece. The lizard-shaped object has an inflated body with two massive feet. There is an eyelet in the neck of the figure, which was used for suspension. The head and body of the sculpted pottery were decorated with bead and knob-shaped overlays. They have an incised and dotted decoration filled with white colour. The object was smoothed, slurried, primed and polished. The restored instrument has many broken and missing parts. The bichrome ceramic has a red-brown base colour. The head of the depicted creature is oversized. Social significance: similar sculptures have been interpreted as ritual objects (Bransford 1881; Bonilla et al. 1987), as pendants or as vessel pipes (Lehmann 1913). Symbolic meaning: in the South American lowlands, caimans were considered the "lord of the fish" and the "bringer of manioc" (Bischof 1982: 14). Lehmann (1913) associates the ceramics with his El Viejo style. Lothrop (1926) discusses the group under the orange-brown ware. Cultural significance: the group is only known from the south of the Gran Nicoya region. Their artefacts were mainly documented in burials. According to the Lehmann catalogue, the object was found half an hour south of Lagartero. (Künne 2004)

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Data Provider
Ethnologisches Museum
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Cataloguing data

Object type
musical instruments
Dimensions
Objektmaß: 7,9 x 6,4 x 15,3 cm
Material/Technique
Sound
Current location
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Inventory number
IV Ca 48598

Provenance and sources

when
Bicromo en zonas (500 BC - 500 AD)
where
Costa Rica
Guanacaste [Provinz]
Bolsón [Fluss]
Largatero [Ort]

who
Lehmann, Walter - Collectors

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