West Coast Mexico
Colima (Otomies)

Black ware pottery
ca. 200 BCE to 100 CE
Length: 9.5 in; Diameter: 0.75 in
Aerophones – Wind Instruments Proper – Edge-blown Flutes

A pre-Columbian, Colima (region) black ware (burnished finish) pottery flute from the West Coast of Mexico, ca. 300 BCE to 300 CE.  It has four finger holes and a warrior head that adorns the area just below blow hole. The warrior figure wears a heavy textile helmet wrapped under his chin and is adorned with added coffee bean eyes and pointed nose.  This flute is long and very slightly curved, with no visible cracks or other damage (a rarity for its age).

Colima is a state name and is also the name of the capital city.  The people in this region, who settled in prehistoric times, came by successive waves of people arriving from the north: the Otomies may have come through the area around 250-750 CE, followed by the Toltecas who flourished between 900 and 1154 CE, and the Chichimecs who came to the area during the twelfth century.  This pottery whistle dates back to the Otomies and prehistoric times.