Pan-pipes probably played an important part in Nazca ritual and shamanistic practice, as well as in entertainment. Nazca craftsmen produced carefully tuned and decorated Pan-pipes in slip-moulded clay, achieving some of the most sophisticated musical instruments in the whole of the ancient Americas.
From Palpa (Nazca Phase 7) comes a finely painted seven-pipe set, more than 40 cm long, bearing the figure of a warrior. These pipes, like their Old World equivalents in Europe and Asia, work by blowing across the open ends of the tubes.
Exactly how their scales were used to make up tunes is unclear - no written music survives from Pre-Columbian times. However, pottery figurines show that they may often have been played in pairs, strung together, the musician perhaps combining tones and sequences from both sets.
