Ocarina c. 200 - 500

This is a ceramic ocarina, crafted by the Nazca people of ancient Peru. Look closely at the figure depicted: a musician playing a panpipe, adorned with distinctive markings and wearing a hat. These symbols, far from mere decoration, speak volumes. The act of playing music itself is a ritualistic symbol. Across cultures, music serves as a bridge to the divine, a means of invoking spirits, or celebrating life’s milestones. The panpipe specifically, with its series of pipes producing different notes, is an ancient instrument found in various forms across the globe, from the Andean highlands to ancient Greece. The musician’s face is striking, with large eyes that remind me of ancient Greek masks worn at the theatre, a powerful symbol of collective memory and subconscious expression. These features evoke a sense of heightened awareness, perhaps reflective of a shamanic state reached through music. This ocarina is more than just an instrument. It is a vessel containing cultural memory. The cyclical nature of symbols is evident here, as the act of music-making resurfaces time and again as a powerful means of human expression and spiritual connection.