The prehispanic Mayan musical instruments of the Yucatan Peninsula: An archaeoacoustic study.

Abstract

This project plans an archaeological and acoustic study of the musical instruments found during archaeological excavations in different archaeological sites in the Yucatan Peninsula, with the purpose of examining these materials with new analysis perspectives, including contexts, relationships with other registered materials, acoustic characteristics, and possible places, within the archaeological sites where they play those musical instruments. Our objective is to find and establish significant usage and meaning patterns of the prehispanic musical instruments in different places and moments (dance, songs, sacrifice, burials, etc.). We have the support of physicists from the Cybernethycs Laboratory and Mathematic Institute of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico. This project includes physical methodology (Mobile Laboratory to measure the musical instruments in a control space), musical (to determinate musical intervals and tones used with more frequency), and archaeological (contexts) in the analysis of the musical instruments materials, methodology that allows us to obtain a dynamic comprehension and diffusion of the prehispanic musical maya instrument’s utilization.