My Ocarina

Though my ocarina is missing a head, it can be assumed by the body that it is either a human-like figure or some sort of anthropomorphic figurine. It is approximately six centimeters wide and nine centimeters long. The figurine is wearing a dress or perhaps some ceremonial garb with a cape around its shoulders. The top of the dress is detailed with small circles and the bottom of the dress has an unrecognizable pattern running down it. At first glance it may go unnoticed, but there also appears to be a small, detailed necklace at the top of the whistle. The detail in the clothes leads me to believe that the figure represents an important figure for the Maya. The posterior side of the ocarina contains two small holes, which were for making sounds with the whistle. The odd thing about the back of the whistle is the large, square hole where the mouth piece should be. The hole, which is roughly one a half by one and a half centimeters was cut by researchers in order to do tests on the ocarina’s composition and age. The pictures below show the front and back of the ocarina that I rendered in 3D with both a NextEngine scanner and photogrammetry with a scale for size reference.

Interestingly enough, the figurine was found at the Stingray Lagoon site in Belize by Dr. Heather McKillop . Stingray Lagoon was the site of a significant amount of salt production for the Maya. Dr. McKillop who mapped and excavated the site found a considerable number of salt-making artifacts such as jars for storage and various briquetage elements. Amongst the salt-making artifacts, there appeared to be a few different whistles and pieces of figurines: “Cluster A contained a complete metate, a mold-made whistle in the shape of a bat head (Figure 7), a mold-made dog figurine head, and large pieces of "unit-stamped" potter” (McKillop 221). The figurines Dr. McKillop are referencing are considered to be from the “Late to Terminal Classic” period of the Maya civilization and it was later evidenced that the figurines were in fact mold-made whistles common to places such as Lubaantun.

My ocarina, along with another similarly made ocarina, were both found in Stingray Lagoon, but are clearly made in the same style as ocarinas coming from Lubantuun. Researches now believe that the salt being made in Stingray Lagoon was traded in other locations where the ocarinas were being manufactured from molds. According to Dr. McKillop, “The presence of inland goods at the Stingray Lagoon site, notably mold- made, Lubaantun-style figurine whistles and unit- stamped pottery, is supporting evidence for salt production for inland transport” (McKillop 225). While the figurines, such as the one 3D scanned, were found in Stingray Lagoon, it has become clear that they were sourced from somewhere else, most likely Lubaantun, during exchanges of salt that was made in Stingray Lagoon.

Citation:

McKillop, Heather. “Underwater Archaeology, Salt Production, and Coastal Maya Trade at Stingray Lagoon, Belize.” Latin American Antiquity, vol. 6, no. 3, 1995, pp. 214–228. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/971673.