A Technological Marvel: The Whistling Jar

Note from the writer: some historians refer to the artifacts described in this post as a "vessel" rather than a "jar." For continuity sake and for the benefit of my readers, I will only be using the term "jar."

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ancient Peru, the home of Machu Picchu. Within Ancient Peru lies countless works of art, ranging from functional to decorative and from traditional to colonial. While it may be common to think of the Inca people when discussing South American and specifically Peruvian history, the Inca empire was only one of the many diverse communities and peoples that thrived and disappeared in the years prior to and during the arrival of Spain in the 1500s. Fortunately, a plethora of pre-colonial South American works survived the Spanish empire.

Among many of these civilizations, skilled artists and potters created jars of different shapes, sizes, and depictions. Some are more anthropocentric—meaning having a focus on human or humanoid features or figures—while others portray animals or creatures of folklore. Despite the diverse assortment of these jars, they all had one similar function—they created a whistling sound when tipping the jar.

Indeed, the shape of the jars allow for the passage of air to be displaced via moving liquids, producing different whistling sounds. Traditionally among the Inca, these jars were double-chambered, as if two jars were separately created and then joined at the base and at the neck with a hollow handle that allowed for air displacement. Depending on the shape and size of the jar, the whistling sound produced different pitches and could control whether or not the liquid caused a warbling sound, imitating some forms of birdsong. Typically, the animals or figures matched the sounds emitting from the jars. If a portion of the pot depicted a wolf, it would generally imitate a howl; if it were a bird such as a kestrel, the whistle would be more high-pitched and would often warble. The video below provides visual and auditory examples of traditional Peruvian whistling jars—primarily of Inca fashion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gekvMh0ZeGY

While the Inca people certainly created their own variations of double-chambered whistling jars, much of the artifacts removed from archaeological sites originate from earlier civilizations, such as the Moche people (c. 100 C.E. - 800 C.E.). The Moche people—a cluster of civilizations along the Peruvian coast—were incredibly skilled in metallurgy. They crafted works such as jewelry, spatulas, and knives—with several surviving pieces of jewelry made of gold. Despite these amazing skills in metallurgy, the Moche are more commonly remembered for their diverse assortment of whistling jars. While the Moche did not invent the whistling jar, they crafted a mass variety of these fascinating works. Some were produced in the famous double-chambered configuration while others were designed in a uniquely shaped single-chambered fashion.

Civilizations and cultures that existed after the Moche definitely drew some inspiration from them and in some ways refined the whistling jar. The Inca people, for example, generally followed the double-chambered design, with the spout placed on one of the chambers instead of directly on a hollow handle. Modern whistling jars predominantly follow the Inca style.

While there still exists some uncertainty as to which civilization created the first functioning whistling jars, some of the earliest whistling jars date as far back as 500 B.C.E. within a variety of ruins along the coasts of Peru and Ecuador. Historians and archaeologists claim that some jars discovered are even 3,000 years old, but some of these jars were not removed from archaeological sites in Peru or Ecuador. As a matter of fact, archaeologists found whistling jars as north as Mexico, with many uniquely designed and stylish works originating from Mayan artisans. As previously mentioned, the Moche and other cultures certainly had an impact on Inca culture and therefore their version of the whistling whistling jar. This same influence spread through trade with Mesoamerican cultures and civilizations, and the Maya people refined the whistling jar in their own ornate and unique style (as seen in the image below).

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

This Mayan whistling jar starkly contrasts their Peruvian counterparts as it does not depict and imitate an animal or humanoid person. Rather, it displays some sort of interaction between a Mayan man and a deity, perhaps a moment of displaying devotion to said deity. Regardless of what the original artist intended to display, its style and perhaps its intended use certainly differs greatly from South American whistling jars.

The Peruvian whistling jar is truly a technological marvel. Its evolution and diverse array of styles throughout different cultures provides a glimpse into the development of material history within the Peruvian region of South America and within Mesoamerican cultures with whom they traded. The intended purpose or purposes of the whistling jar remains a mystery to historians—whether religious, artistic, traditional, or simply functional as either a household appliance or some sort of novelty item. Some whistling jars were discovered next to graves in ancient Peruvian ruins, while others were discovered in homes or public sectors. Despite historians' best efforts to learn more about the Peruvian whistling jar, we may never know their intended purposes. However, we can appreciate and marvel at the incredible craftsmanship and accuracy of their whistling imitations of animals and people.

Sources:

Ceramic Whistling Vessel. 11th-16th century. Ceramic, H. 7 x W. 4 in. (17.8 x 10.2 cm). <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/">The Metropolitan Museum of Art</a>. https://jstor.org/stable/community.18370031.

Donnan, Christopher B. “MOCHE CERAMIC TECHNOLOGY.” Ñawpa Pacha: Journal of Andean Archaeology, no. 3 (1965): 115–35. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27977872.

“Whistling Jar a Clue.” The Science News-Letter 59, no. 12 (1951): 190–190. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3928726.

Santiago, Gonzalo Sánchez. “An Introduction to the Music Cultures of Ancient Oaxaca: Sound Artifacts in the Archaeological Record.” The World of Music 49, no. 2 (2007): 67–79. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41699765.

Benson, Elizabeth P. “A Moche ‘Spatula.’” Metropolitan Museum Journal 18 (1983): 39–52. https://doi.org/10.2307/1512797.

Stirrup Spout Bottle (Whistling Jar) with Anthropomorphic Head. Moche. Clay, 19.6 x 16.7 x 9 cm. Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin; http://www.smb.museum/smb/home/index.php?lang=de; Provenance: Entered the museum 1894. https://jstor.org/stable/community.15720177.

Steven Garrett and Daniel K. Stat. “Peruvian whistling bottles.” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 62 (1977): 449–453. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.381507.

"Whistling vessel." The Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/310542. Accessed January 20, 2023. Whistling Jar. 200 B.C.-600 A.D. Pottery, paint, L. 17.6 cm.; W. 11 cm.; H. 18.6 cm.; Wt. 596 g. Whistling Jar [89.4.1718]. <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/">The Metropolitan Museum of Art</a>. https://jstor.org/stable/community.18678334.