This specimen consists of a hollow figurine representing a four-legged animal with a whistle integrated into its head; it retains the remains of a cream-colored engobe, characteristic of the hollow Olmeca figurines of the Middle Preclassic period. To use the whistle it is necessary to blow through a tube, which represents the tail of the animal, and in this way the air is circulated through the body of the effigy in order to arrive finally at a channel, which is not visible from the exterior, and which at the same time directs the air towards the bevel.
Gonzalo Sanchez
In general, the production appears less careful than that of other pieces from the same collection. The form of the body suggests movement as if the animal were jumping or running. The head is strange, it does not appear to be that of a mammal or a human; more than a mouth or a snout, it seems to have a bird's beak, and the ears are strange protuberances with deep incisions.
The most relevant feature is the wind instrument on its head; it is a big sphere enshrined in an orifice on the top of the head of the animal; therefore, it was thought that it was meant to produce a very distinctive sound. We can therefore conclude that the creators of these ingenious instruments were interested in differentiating the objects not only by their shapes and eventually the symbolism associated with them, but also by the sounds they produced.
In this respect, it is interesting to note that in the archaeological excavations, an adolescent musician could be recognized by the collection of clay objects accompanying him or her; he or she would have been buried with whistling vessels or proto-vessels, in this case in the form of type D3 hollow feminine figures with spheres at the ends of their legs, as well as two bird shaped whistles, a maraca and a presumed omichicauaztli, a rasping instrument (similar to a grater), perhaps made from the horn of a deer. To complete the grave goods of the artist whose sex could not be determined, a smiling painted terracota mask completed the panorama of the type of festivities and dramatizations in which the exceptional whistling vessels of Tlatilco were used.
Marie-Areti Hers
This specimen consists of a hollow figurine representing a four-legged animal with a whistle integrated into its head; it retains the remains of a cream-colored engobe, characteristic of the hollow Olmeca figurines of the Middle Preclassic period. To use the whistle it is necessary to blow through a tube, which represents the tail of the animal, and in this way the air is circulated through the body of the effigy in order to arrive finally at a channel, which is not visible from the exterior, and which at the same time directs the air towards the bevel.
Gonzalo Sanchez
