This armadillo is decorated with wide-incised
lines filled in with little dots. The artist has paid
special attention to create a pretty design on its
body. This charming armadillo is so busy eating
that it doesn't even have time to look up at us!
The armadillo may represent a symbolically
important animal to the Ancient Costa Ricans.
Ocarinas come in a variety of sizes, producing
tones ranging from that of a tenor recorder to
that of a shrill whistle. The mouthpiece and the
size of the resonance chamber are modified to
produce different tones. Ocarinas are the musical
instruments of the New World and are found in
high status tombs. This suggests use in a ritual
context. Behind most developed prehistoric
subsistence systems is a mythological
framework. The mythological framework is the
knowledge and perpetuation of explanations
concerning the origins of their political and
religious system and defines their rituals that
formalize seasonal and other cyclical necessary
procedures. The armadillo may be identified with
an important function and purpose in the Costa
Ricans' mythological framework. This special
ocarina continues to carry on its importance and
charm from ancient hands to the present.
- (PF.3120)