The Numerous Faces and Voices of Ancient Maya Instruments: A Typological Analysis of Ancient Maya Musical Artifacts Based on Physical and Tonal Attributes

Summary

Over the past several years, the Maya Music Project has documented over 430 ancient Maya musical instruments. In addition to photographing all of the instruments, over 160 musical artifacts have been 3D scanned, and audio recordings were made of many of the artifacts. This paper will focus on the typological analysis of instruments based not only on their stylistic and technological attributes, but also on the tones the instruments are able to produce, as it is clear the artisans who created these instruments had a solid understanding of the manipulation of pitches. In particular, this paper will analyze several types of instruments, including specific categories of ocarinas, globular flutes, and rattles. Certain types of instruments were made more frequently than others, and this research attempts to understand the cultural significance of these categories of artifacts. This paper will also describe the use of digital experimental archaeology as a useful tool when attempting to understand the internal structure of instruments, as numerous instruments have been recreated digitally, and then 3D printed. The playable 3D prints sound very similar to the original artifacts, demonstrating the success of this experimental approach.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22125