Working with Flutes and Whistling Bottles from pre-Hispanic Peru

Abstract

This article examines a four-year collaboration between Peruvian music archaeologist Gonzalo Rodríguez and German ethnomusicologist Maurice Mengel at the Ethnologisches Museum in Berlin, exploring how European museums can foster collaborative research into Peruvian musical heritage. We argue that recent decolonial perspectives in music archaeology challenge Eurocentric assumptions about musicking and necessitate experimental approaches using replicas of archaeological instruments to explore Andean musical aesthetics. These aesthetics include distinctive timbral qualities, interlocking performance practices and integrated physical movement, features that cannot be adequately studied through the observation of museum artefacts alone. Through Rodríguez’s hands-on research, we demonstrate that existing museum documentation—including published catalogues and online portals—lacks sufficient detail for rigorous archaeomusicological study. His investigations have revealed approximately 260 previously unidentified whistling bottles in the Berlin collection and produced faithful replicas requiring detailed measurements, materials research, and technical expertise in instrument construction. We contend that, while online resources remain inadequate, intensive in-person study of collections is essential. Museums holding Peruvian archaeological instruments must facilitate access for South American scholars, publish more comprehensive digital documentation, including sound and video examples, and support experimental research methodologies. Such initiatives contribute to decolonization while advancing understanding of pre-Columbian musical practices and challenging longstanding assumptions.