The ceramic Ocarina is an ancient Arabic-like wind instrument probably more than 12,000 years old. Ancient examples have been cited - small whistles shaped like birds or other animals and made of terracotta are known in India for 6,000 years. China has a very long history of ocarina music - songs and dance had already appeared as early as five thousand years ago.
While several variations of ocarinas exist, they are classified by an oval-shaped enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouth tube projecting out from the body. It is often ceramic, but many other materials, such as plastic, wood, glass and metal may also be used.
