The thesis put forward in this article is that the transverse flute did not originate in Europe only. In the Pre-Columbian Tiwanaku culture located in South America a flute prototype was also developed between 500 and 900 a.C. and exported to neighboring territories, particularly the San Pedro de Atacama oasis. This article intends to prove that the Tiwanaku flute collected by the jesuit priest Gustavo Le Paige and deposited at the San Pedro de Atacama Arqueological Museum is so far the only example of an American flute that did not derive from the canon of the European military whistle. The oldest American transverse flutes preserved at South American museums which are in conditions to be studied derive in its entirety from the canon of the European military whistle. Therefore the Tiwanaku flute can be considered a type of flute which genuinely belongs to Pre-Columbian South America.
Keywords:
Tiwanaku, transverge flute, military whistle, Pre-columbian culture, canon
Díaz S., R. F. (2013). In the New World the Transverse Flute originated in Tiwanaku. Revista Musical Chilena, 67(219), p. 12 – 41. Retrieved from https://revistamusicalchilena.uchile.cl/index.php/RMCH/article/view/27903
