Chavin. <em>Incised Strombus-Shell Trumpet</em>, 400–200 B.C.E. Strombus shell, 11 1/4 x 7 1/8 x 11 1/4 in. (28.6 x 18.1 x 28.6 cm). Anonymous Loan, L52.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, L52.1_transp5626.jpg)

Chavin. Incised Strombus-Shell Trumpet, 400–200 B.C.E. Strombus shell, 11 1/4 x 7 1/8 x 11 1/4 in. (28.6 x 18.1 x 28.6 cm). Anonymous Loan, L52.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, L52.1_transp5626.jpg)

Chavin. Incised Strombus-Shell Trumpet, 400–200 B.C.E. Strombus shell, 11 1/4 x 7 1/8 x 11 1/4 in. (28.6 x 18.1 x 28.6 cm). Anonymous Loan, L52.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Julia Burtenshaw, CUR.L52.1_view1_Julia_Burtenshaw_photograph.jpg)

DOWNLOAD

Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Is this made from a sea shell?

It is a seashell! Specifically, a strombus shell. If you press the button on the case that corresponds with that object, you can hear it being played. Definitely try out some of those buttons, it makes the instruments so much more interesting being able to hear them!

Was this shell really an instrument?

Yes! Conch shells have a natural form that allows them to be played as a horn. It is even decoration with an incised drawing of a human figure blowing a shell trumpet. Shells were an important trade item for the Chavin, a major pre-Incan culture in Peru. Shells brought in from the coast were also worn as ornaments, or ground to make a powder chewed with coca leaves.

What is this and what is it used for?

It is a trumpet made from a Strombus shell that has been elaborately decorated. Shells were important trade items and a trumpet like this would have been played in public ceremonies.

How would something like this have been made?

The conch shell would have been selected for its natural properties like its shape, size, and color and then the intricate designs you see would have likely been carved with a stone blade!

What’s the design carved onto this shell? It looks like a man standing on something?

Yes, it's a man with facial tattoos and ankle ornaments playing a shell trumpet like this very object. He is surrounded by twisting and intertwined snakes which were considered representations of deities.

A snake is even coming out of the trumpet the man is blowing, perhaps indicating the power of the trumpet to communicate with supernatural beings.

Would snakes represent a specific deity, or just a symbol of deities in general?

It could be either! We're not exactly sure. We know that they were associated with the supernatural, but because the Chavin had no form of writing, our only knowledge of them and their culture come from objects like these and other remains.

That’s really interesting, thanks!

Incised Strombus-Shell Trumpet

Arts of the Americas

The blowing of conch-shell trumpets was an integral part of rituals at the ancient site of Chavín de Huántar. Stone slabs in certain underground spaces are carved with scenes of figures blowing shell trumpets, probably during public ceremonies. This example is decorated with the incised figure of a trumpet player from whose instrument a snake emerges, perhaps as a representation of its sacred sound and its connection with the spirit world. Today, local Indigenous people continue to blow conch shells to mark the beginning and end of public ceremonies.

CULTURE Chavin

MEDIUM Strombus shell

Place Found: Northern Highlands, Peru

DATES 400–200 B.C.E.

PERIOD Formative Period

DIMENSIONS 11 1/4 x 7 1/8 x 11 1/4 in. (28.6 x 18.1 x 28.6 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Arts of the Americas

ACCESSION NUMBER L52.1

CREDIT LINE Anonymous Loan

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Strombus-shell trumpet with an elaborate, incised design of a human figure blowing on a conch shell with a cascade of serpents emanating from it, possibly alluding to the sacred nature of the sounds produced. The ancient Chavin people probably used shell trumpets during rituals because such activities are depicted on architectural friezes and monumental sculpture. Drill holes suggest that the piece could have been suspended on a cord, perhaps from the neck of a priest. Condition: excellent.

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Chavin. Incised Strombus-Shell Trumpet, 400–200 B.C.E. Strombus shell, 11 1/4 x 7 1/8 x 11 1/4 in. (28.6 x 18.1 x 28.6 cm). Anonymous Loan, L52.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, L52.1_transp5626.jpg)

IMAGE overall, L52.1_transp5626.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

RECORD COMPLETENESS

Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.