The History of Mayan Ocarinas
As you guys know we have been scanning Mayan figurine whistles, which are also known as ocarinas, but what are they and why are they even a thing? They were used for many different reasons for example they were probably used in activities in and around the household such as kids playing, figurine whistles were also probably used as a large part of larger group ceremonies and social gatherings where it did not really matter how they looked, but it was more important how they sounded. Moreover, multiple social groups, including women and children, had access to figurine whistles and were able to use them for there own means. the true purpose of the figurine whistles is something of much debate, but these are the two most prominant ideas. one reason that there is so much debate on whether or not they were toys or whether or not the were used in in rituals is because there are some many different designs. which you many think of course there are different designs they all come from different places, well actually there is a ton of diversity in the shapes and forms of the figurine whistles, even the ones that are from the same period and cultural region as each other. these differing forms are what cause such debate because the multitude of forms does not lend itself to one specific answer. The large range of contexts in which archaeologists have recovered figurine whistles suggests that the ways people incorporated these small figurine whistles into everyday life was a cross between elements of ritual, entertainment, and play.
Well you may be asking yourself at this point how do we even have any clue what these figurine whistles were used for if we weren't there. this is because we can assume what they were used for based off of the context that we found them in during their excavation. Investigations of rapidly abandoned sites have uncovered some figurine whistles in their original places where they were used and stored in the household. These finds show us that figurines were displayed, handled, or kept within both ritual and non-ritual rooms in the house. We have found them in other places too. one common p;ace to find them is in burial caches. The figurine whistles can be found in burials of adult males, juveniles, children, and, in most cases, adult females. The assumption is that the buried individuals used, owned, or were somehow related to the figurine whistles that were placed in the burial, although this may not have always been the case, as burial goods may have also been tokens of mourners and family members of the deceased. these figurine whistles can be fund all over the places. we have found them in caves, in random caches, at religious sites, and other places like these. Figurine whistles seem to have been an important part of the Ancient Mayan culture, but what exactly was there true purpose? Only more time and research will be able to tell.