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172ConclusionsThe following general conclusions can be formulated:‣ South American Indian music has a few interesting regions ofdistribution of group polyphonic singing, although in many regionsthese are only a loosely coordinated heterophonic singing traditions.‣ Among a few South American Indian peoples the tradition ofpolyphonic singing is particularly important (as among the Q’eros fromthe high mountainous Cusco region).‣ Generally speaking, the Andean region is the most important region ofdistribution of polyphonic traditions. Here drone polyphony, uniquethroughout South America, was documented.‣ Quite a few Amazonian forest tribes also actively employ group singing,resulting in heterophony.‣ The abundance of polyphonic blown instruments raises a question aboutthe presence of polyphony (at least, instrumental polyphony) among precontactSouth and Central American cultures.Polyphonic singingon Pacific IslandsCovering about half of our planet (but only a fraction of the world’s population),the Pacific Ocean is the home of an amazing richness of vocal polyphonic traditions.Both Marius Schneider in his 1934-1935 “History of Polyphony” and later Alan Lomaxin his 1968 “Folk Song Style and Culture” placed the Oceania islands (particularlyPolynesia and Melanesia) among the three most polyphonic major regions of the world(the two others being sub-Saharan Africa and Europe).PolynesiaPerhaps one of the most important historical lessons that Oceania (andparticularly Polynesia) taught European musicology (in the 18 th century) was the shock ofthe discovery that well-organized part-singing can exist far from European civilization.The very first encounters of European travelers with the Pacific Ocean Islandcommunities brought to light their strong predilection towards vocal polyphonic singing.From 1773 records come the following descriptions: “This set most of the women in thecircle singing their songs were musical and harmonious, noways harsh or disagreeable”,or: “Not their voices only but their music also was very harmonious & they haveconsiderable compass in their notes” (Beaglehole, 1962:246). Some descriptions are evenmore precise: “They sing in parts, keeping the same time and varying the four noteswithout ever going beyond them. So many singers and so few notes you always hear thewhole together. The difference of Words & Voices makes some variety. The singers (thatI heard) were all women. One confined herself entirely to the Lower Note which acted asDrone” – this eloquent description comes from Cook’s second 1772-1775 voyage