Most early Andean cultures have left traces of their musical life, from illustrations on pottery vessels in tombs to remains of actual instruments.
From early times they possessed flutes - whistles with finger-holes - and carefully tuned Pan-pipes. Both were able to produce sophisticated melodic music long before contact with Europeans.
Only stringed instruments (apart perhaps from simple bows) were absent, the folk-guitars and harps of modern traditions clearly showing more recent Spanish or Portuguese origin. Among the most beautiful finds preserved are the painted clay Pan-pipes of the Nazca people.
Besides pottery instruments, arid conditions in the same regions West of the Andes have preserved wooden equivalents, once probably more numerous, including flutes and a range of other instruments.
Such finds may represent only the tip of the musical iceberg; non-instrumental dance and song may have been even more prevalent.
