Conch Trumpet
Maya Conch Shell Trumpet Incised with Hematite
Peten, Guatemala, 4th–6th Century CE
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia
A Maya artist carved the image of an ancestor wearing an elaborate headdress onto the surface of this conch-shell trumpet.
From the ancestor’s mouth emerges a serpent head, symbolizing sacred breath. When sounded, the trumpet’s music was believed to represent the powerful, thunderous voice of the ancestor.
