Whistles from Arizona

Extract

The two specimens here illustrated (Fig. 83) were found in 1925 by E. H. Morris and the writer in a cave opposite and a little above the White House, Canyon de Chelly, Arizona. They lay together about 50 cm. deep in loose sand. They are doubtless Anasazi, but as no other artifacts were found in association it is uncertain whether they are of Basket Maker or Pueblo manufacture. Made from bird bones, apparently ulnae of a large species, they are of identical workmanship, the ends cut squarely across, the shafts polished as if from long handling. The ends of each one's single oval perforation are sharply edged. Directly below the perforation is a little mound of a dark brown, gummy substance, troughed lengthwise (Fig. 84). This throws trough-canalized air, blown from either end, up against the sharp edge at the opposite end of the perforation, producing a shrill whistling note.