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2. Evolution Phases of the Whistle Bottle

According to Crespo (1966), the shape and function of the whistle bottle evolved over approximately 1500 years. For Crespo (1966, 6) the Chorrera culture, through its movements along the Ecuadorian coast, acquired and added elements such as the stirrup handle, the painted red bands, and parallel incisions on the edge of the vessels from the Machalilla culture. The stirrup handle, which improved transport of the bottle, was incorporated into the simple bottle, which already had a small hole created to make it easier to pour liquids.

According to Crespo, the whistle bottle develops and evolves in the Chorrera culture, the great culture of the Late Formative (Crespo 1966, 2), at the end of the Machalilla culture (1600 BC to 800 BC). It would be at this point in time when the whistle was incorporated in the base of the handle, taking advantage of the air coming out of the small hole. This idea for acoustic production was possibly taken from aerophones such as zoomorphic flutes, whistles and ocarinas (Idrovo Urigüen 1987). Human and animal representations were added later, and modelled with great dexterity.

Crespo (1966) states that in this phase, the double resonance box or resonator was also incorporated, which made modification of sound via perforations possible. The mainly zoomorphic sound that comes from the bottles maintains a relationship with the animals that are represented (Crespo 1966; de Espinoza 2006; Ontaneda 2007). On the other hand, de Arce (2015, 28) argues that this is unfounded in the vast majority of cases, since there are bottles with different iconographies that sound the same, or bottles with similar iconography that emit different sounds, as well as representations that can barely be related to the sound emitted.

Crespo considers that the double container bottle appeared as a 'synthesis' of the 'primitive bottle' and the whistle bottle, and which in this investigation has been called an assembly, i.e. the union of the simple bottle and the whistle bottle via the conduit and the handle. In this bottle, the sound is produced by a tilting movement enabling the water contained within the bottle to move from one container to the other via the central conduit. At the end of this evolutionary synopsis, Crespo ascribes the triple globular anthropomorphic bottle with double whistle to the Bahía culture as belonging to the period 500 BC to 650 AD.

Table 1 illustrates the different evolutionary phases of the whistle bottle. Crespo's simple bottle is in Figure 2. Phase 1 is a simple bottle with hole (Figure 3); Phase 2 adds a handle (Figure 4); Phases 3 and 4 refer to the incorporation of a small resonance box, which allow them to be called whistle bottles (Figure 5 and Figure 6). Phase 5 consists of the double globular bottle (Figure 7) and finally the process concludes in Phase 6 with the triple globular anthropomorphic bottle containing the double whistle of the Bahía Culture and producing polyphonal sound (Figure 8). In this last phase, you can see the sum of all the elements incorporated in the bottles of the previous stages, plus additional detail – the whistles are not placed on the platform next to the air duct but are suspended on the conduit, a structure that also functions as a window. de Arce (2015) argues that, in this type of bottle, having three interconnected containers multiplies the potential of possible sounds when the liquid within is circulated. The organo-acoustic structure of the anthropomorphic triple ellipsoid bottle with double whistle of the Bahía culture belonging to this last stage is currently being investigated for a forthcoming publication.

Table 1. Functionalism and phases of evolution of the whistle bottle (based on Crespo 1966)

1600–800 BC Machalilla Culture			900–100 BC Chorrera Culture			500 BC–650 AD Bahía Culture
Simple Bottle	Bottle with hole	Bottle with handle	Whistle bottle	Bottles of a container and of multiple artistic representations	Whistle bottle of aerodynamic and hydraulic operation	Triple vase with double whistle
	Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3	Phase 4	Phase 5*	Phase 6
Simple bottle to transport liquids. Meets the function of maintaining the freshness of the contents, but presents difficulty when emptying the same.	Small hole, in the upper wall of the bottle. Allows the continuous emptying of the liquid by the pressure of the air exerted from the inside.	Half-arc handle that connects the neck with the body of the bottle with a small hole. The handle was adopted from its predecessor, the Machalilla culture. This facilitates the mobility of the bottle. The pressure of the air and the movement of the water by means of the handle cause the exit of the water by the neck producing short bursts of air through the small holes, which were later used to produce sound.	Incorporated into the handle is "a small resonance box or whistle … the bottle sings" (Crespo, 1966, 9). Possibly similar to the whistle that had already developed in other sound instruments of the time.	Besides the functionality of the whistle, zoomorphic and anthropomorphic forms are tested with different types of decorations. A double resonator is applied and with great mastery, sounds of birds, monkeys, frogs etc. are imitated (Crespo 1966, 10).	Bottles with double container appear. The whistle is covered by an external resonator with perforations that modify the sound directly or by fingering from the outside of the holes.	Bottle with triple containers, with double whistle and with polyphonic potential.
Photographs courtesy of: Mónica Polanco, Museo Arqueológico y de Arte Contemporáneo (MAAC) of the Ministry of Culture of Guayaquil, Reserva Arqueológica Ministry of Culture of Quito and Santiago Ortiz. * Stage selected for the development of laboratory tests (5).

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