Curator’s Choice: Conch Shell Trumpet

Photos by Natalia Gabrielsen

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This trumpet was made from the shell of a large conch (Strombus galeatus) by grinding away the spire’s apex (the pointed tip of the spiral-shaped part of the shell) to create the mouthpiece. The thick outer lip of the natural aperture has also been removed and the resulting edge was ground smooth. It was recovered from Jackrabbit Ruin, a Classic period Hohokam site in the eastern Papaguería (the portion of the Sonoran Desert bounded by the Gila River, the Colorado River, the Gulf of California, and the Tucson Mountains) with a small platform mound that is believed to have served as a community ceremonial structure.

Shell trumpets are relatively rare in archaeological sites in the US Southwest. The earliest examples have been recovered from burials at sites dating to the Colonial period (ca. 750-950 C.E.) in the Tucson Basin. However, most trumpets are from Classic period (post-1150 C.E.) sites. They are often associated with platform mounds, and are thought to be ritual paraphernalia associated with the ceremonies conducted on top of these structures.

Among the Hopi and the Zuni, conch trumpets are used in certain ceremonies associated with the plumed serpent (a powerful and dangerous supernatural being) and war. Spanish accounts indicate that Pueblo Indian warriors blew on such trumpets to signal each other and to coordinate attacks. Acoustical experiments with a modern replica have shown that the sound made by these trumpets is audible up to a mile away.

Strombus galeatus is the largest of the conchs endemic to the tropical waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean, with its range extending as far south as Ecuador and north to the head of the Gulf of California. It inhabits the grassy regions that lie between the low-tide line and a maximum depth of 15 meters.