Aztec Feathered Wood Scepter

Wooden Aztec Pen
American Museum Natural History

Aztec mosaic mask wood, turqoise, resin, and gold nose bridge - Tlaloc Mixtec-Aztec Culture Late Postclassic Period 1350-1521 CE
Dallas Museum of Art

Wooden slit-drum (teponaztli) - A horned owl - Aztec, AD 1325-1521 From Mexico

This is an example of an Aztec slit-drum called a teponaztli in Nahuatl, the language spoken by the Aztecs. It was hollowed-out and carved from a piece of hardwood. Two tongues were slotted at the top, carefully carved to achieve different tones when struck with drumsticks. Teponaztli were generally decorated with designs in relief or carved to represent human figures or animals. The origin of the instrument is not known but it is likely to go back many centuries before Aztec times. Different sources from the colonial period illustrate its use in various ceremonies, which involved also dancing.

This teponaztli is the only known example that represents a horned owl, here carved on the front of the drum. Owls were considered to be creatures of ill omen. Their presence and nocturnal calls were believed to foretell death or misfortune. Owls were also associated with Mictlantecuhtli, the Lord of the Underworld, and with the powers of darkness. Since the owl was supposed to serve as a messenger to Mictlantecuhtli, it has been suggested that this particular teponaztli could have been use in funerary ceremonies.

Wooden slit-drum (teponatzli) - Aztec, AD 1325-1521 From Mexico

This is an example of an Aztec slit-drum, called teponaztli in Nahuatl, the language spoken by the Aztecs. It was hollowed out and carved from a piece of hardwood. Two tongues were slotted at the top, carefully carved to achieve different tones when struck with drumsticks. The teponaztli was generally decorated with designs in relief or carved to represent human figures or animals. This example was fashioned in the shape of a crouching human figure.

Information about musical instruments in Aztec times comes from excavations, mural paintings, ceramics, codices (screenfold books) and other sources from the colonial period. The use of the teponaztli is well illustrated in the codices, usually accompanied by an upright, cylindrical drum, called huehuetl. It was played on a stand or on the floor with a cloth or rope to raise it from the ground.

Music and dance featured in a variety of religious ceremonies but also for recreational purposes. Aztec deities such as Xochipilli, Xochiquetzal and Tezcatlipoca were all associated with music. Musical instruments have been found as offerings to these gods at the site of the ancient Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan. There were schools where the youths could learn to sing, dance and play musical instruments.

Aztec Teponoazth, hortizontal drum

Wooden Handle Knife with a mosaic handle and a chalcedony blade - A sacrificial knife - Aztec/Mixtec, 15th-16th century AD - From Mexico

The handle of this knife is carved in wood and covered with mosaic of turquoise, shell and malachite. The blade is made of chalcedony.

Wooden ceremonial shield with mosaic inlay - An intricate mosaic which illustrates the Aztec universe  - Aztec/Mixtec, 15th-16th century AD From Mexico - Diameter: 31 cm

In the centre is a solar disc, picked out with red shell. A serpent, outlined by the gilded beads, coils around a tree. This tree represents a 'world axis' that connects the underworld, the earth and the sky. To the left and right of the serpent there are four figures with raised arms. These are the Sky bearers, gods whose role was to support the sky.

This is an example of a slit-drum called a teponaztli. It was hollowed out and carved from a piece of hardwood. Two tongues were slotted at the top, carefully carved to achieve different tones when struck with drumsticks. Mixtec teponaztli were generally decorated with scenes carved in relief, while Aztec examples were sometimes carved to represent human or animal figures. The scene on this teponaztli represents a battle between two cities. It is carved with figures and calendrical inscriptions in the same style used in the Mixtec codices (screenfold books). For example, the name of the warrior on the left of the main scene is 'Five Rain', represented by five circles and the symbol for rain. This glyph also indicates a date, but the Mixtec used the day of birth as a personal name.

The Mixtec, whose heartland was in present-day Oaxaca, were expert artisans and created magnificent objects in wood, bone, turquoise mosaic, jade and metal. Some of these objects were paid in tribute to the Aztec empire. There was also a district of Mixtec artisans in the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan.