People have been playing ocarinas for thousands of years. The purposes of these instruments appear to be as varied as their sizes and shapes. By Gayle Keck
Y This ocarina depicts a seated human figure with a headdress. It was recovered from Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.
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ou might have had one when you were a kid.You might have encountered a magical one while playing a popular video game. You might even have an app on your iPhone or Android. Ocarinas captivate people today, just as they have for millennia. These clay wind instruments, technically classified as “globular aerophones,” have one or more chambers. Players blow into, or sometimes over, a mouthpiece,
(c) president and felloWs of harvard college, peabody museum of archaeology and ethnology. pm# 53-25-20/19347
An Instrument For The Ages
fall • 2017
3/8/18 3:44 PM
