oped a variety of skin drums. Th ese were essentially wooden
tubes or barrels across the mouths of which were stretched
membranes of animal skin. Th ey could be played either with
sticks or with the hands. Some Mesoamericans made slit
drums, hollow lengths of logs into which slits were cut to vary
the sound of the instrument.
From Costa Rica to Bolivia ancient Indians developed
ceramic variations on the more common wooden skin drum.
By the beginning of the Common Era, Indians of the wooded
regions of the American Northwest Coast were already expert
at joining and bending wood with heat, making it possible to
give skin drums almost any desired shape, thereby producing
a variety of sound qualities as well. Many drums may have
been carved or dyed with symbolic or decorative motifs.
Southwest Indians of what is today the United States
played double-headed drums, while Indians of the Northeast
used wooden kettledrums to accompany their cane fl utes and
singing. From paintings on ceramic vessels anthropologists
know that Andean peoples such as the Moche and their an-
cestors made tambourines and gongs, instruments easily car-
ried in royal and religious processions.
With their airy, sometimes shrill tones, ancient fl utes,
whistles, and trumpets produced sounds that resembled those
found in nature. Th e human voice, the stirring wind, and var-
ious species of birds could all be imitated by Native American
wind instruments. Among North American and Amazonian
Indians, with their rich shamanic traditions, wind instru-
ments could also be used to represent spirits of the natural
world and the hereaft er. In their ritual performances the
ancient Plains Indians of North America played fl utes fash-
ioned out of cedar and perhaps other woods. Th ey also made
eagle-bone whistles whose exact use remains unclear, though
it may have been connected to mystical practices.
Northwest Coast Indians played reed instruments whose
tones could be varied by the force of the player’s breath. In-
dians living in coastal regions throughout the Americas of-
ten adapted marine materials to make idiophones, such as
clamshell clappers. Th ey also acquired wind instruments
ready-made from the sea: conch shells blown at religious and
military ceremonies.
Using wooden panpipes or ceramic ocarinas (scu lpted
clay vessels blown like woodwinds), Andean Indians devel-
oped richly melodious and harmonic music. Th is was prob-
ably one of the few ancient American musical forms enjoyed
for its own sake rather than in a supporting ritual role. In fact,
the Andeans produced several whimsical devices that served
to delight the listener. Potters excelled at creating utilitarian
ceramic vessels that whistled when the water inside them was
agitated. Th ey a lso made pots t hat contained closed cha mbers
fi lled with ceramic beads, which made rainlike noises when
the vessels were shaken.
Mesoamericans seem to have used music both for reli-
gious ritual and for the entertainment of royals. Th e early
Maya developed clay, wood, and cane trumpets, to which they
sometimes added a gourd on the end as a resonator. Some of
these wind instruments may have been inspired by even ear-
lier Olmec prototypes.
Some instruments were used to produce singular, pecu-
liar noises that may not have had any clear tones like, say,
those of sweetly blown ocarinas or fl utes; others may have
supplemented the powerful beats of drums with more tonal,
delicate, or rapid percussions. In the North American coastal
Northwest rattles of animal skin fi lled with pebbles were
shaken at shamanic rituals and possibly during pronounce-
ments from tribal leaders. Northwest coastal Indians also
made rattles from gourds, turtle shells, and insect cocoons,
any of which could be fi lled with seeds or stones and attached
to a handle. Clappers, to be played on their own or to ac-
company drums, were made by splitting sticks to create two
separate tongues that slapped against each other when the in-
strument was shaken.
Plains Indians made rattles of rawhide, while Southwest
Indians used hollowed horns. Employing their wide trade
contacts, southwestern peoples imported metallic bells from
the Late Pre-Classic Maya far to the south. Th e bells, at-
tached to cords or bands and either shaken by hand or worn
by dancers, produced a constant rhythmic ringing at sacred
dances. Th e Maya themselves probably learned metal casting
through their indirect contacts with South America, where
there may have been similar instruments employing metallic
resonance.
Some Indians of the North American West are known to
have played music on their hunting bows, strumming the string
as they held it between their teeth. A change in the shape or po-
sition of the player’s mouth changed the sound of the pluckedWhistling vessel in the form of a macaw, Peru, Moche culture (ca.
100–700 c.e.) (© Th e Trustees of the British Museum)
music and musical instruments: The Americas 773