Sounding turtles of Mexico

Turtle shells have been used for a long time in the five continents as raw material for the elaboration of different types of musical instruments.

Throughout Mexico, the carapacho (caparace) of the turtle (in Nahuatl, ayot icacahuayō or ayotapalcatl) has a special meaning, dating back to pre-Hispanic times. Myths link the turtle to music, to the rain gods, and to legends of origin such as that of the birth of maize. It is present both in ancient narratives (e.g. the manuscript titled Histoyre du Mechique) and in numerous current traditional stories derived from them, which are the heritage of different contemporary Mexican indigenous societies.

Among its earliest representations in Mesoamerican iconography, the tortoise shell can be seen in the Olmec-influenced Preclassic murals of San Bartolo, in the Guatemalan department of Petén. The Mexica (Aztec) and the peoples who received their influence called it áyotl, "turtle". Bernardino de Sahagún, in his General History of the Things of New Spain (ca. 1540), writes: "...and they also carried their teponaztli and their rattles, and the tortoise shell to play" (book II , chap. 35, at Atemoztli's festival) or "...they used tortoise shells made of gold, in which they played; and now they use them made from the turtle itself" (book VIII, chap. 9). Curiously, he does not cite it among the instruments preserved in the mixcoacalli (book VIII, chapter 14), the place where the musicians of the court of Tenochtitlan practiced and shared their knowledge. It also appears in the Borbonic Codex, in the Crónica Mexicana by Hernando de Alvarado Tezozómoc (ca. 1598; describing the dedication of the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan in 1487) and in the Magliabecchiano Codex, among others.

It was also used by the classic Mixtecs (it is included in the Becker I Codex of Oaxaca from the 12th century) and by the classic P'urhépecha or "Tarascans" (it is cited in the Relation of the ceremonies and rites and population and government of the Indians of the province of Michoacán, 1541).

Among the Classic Maya there were both artifacts and representations of turtle shells (áak) with musical uses. Called kayab, according to Robert Stevenson, the instruments would have formed part of ensembles that would also include a huehuetl drum and two rattles or chinchines. They can be appreciated in the Bonampak frescoes and in various designs. Diego López de Cogolludo, in his Historia de Yucatán (1688), pointed out that in that area turtle shells were interpreted by hitting them with deer antlers.

Diego de Landa, in his Relation of the things of Yucatan (ca. 1566), mentions them and points out another form of execution: "...they have another instrument of the whole turtle with its shells, and when the meat is removed they play it with the palm of the hand, and it is its a gloomy and sad sound".

Currently, the Chontal or Yokot'an people (Tabasco state) use the shell of the hicotea or jicotea turtle (Trachemys callirostris) struck with a wooden drumstick, a rib, or deer antlers. It appears, among others, in the Danza de los Blanquitos, together with a reed "whistle". It is also used among the Tzeltal people (Chiapas state) during the celebration of some dances and ceremonies. The Huave or Ikood (Oaxaca state) play the carapaco with deer antlers accompanying the drum and the reed flute in the Dance of the Snake, the Dance of the Sawfish and the Song of the Swordfish. In similar contexts it is played by the Zapotec or Binni záa of the same state, who call it bigu: they use it, for example, to accompany songsalongside a reed flute and a drum — an ensemble known as pitu nisiaba or muní.

Finally, among the Nahua, the Huasteca or Téenek, the Tepehua and the Totonaca peoples of the states of San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, Hidalgo and Puebla, turtle shells have a central role performing the song that welcomes the souls of the dead every November 1, during the Xantolo.

More information about these sound artifacts can be found in the free-access digital book Turtle shells in traditional Latin American music, accessible through the "Digital books on music. Series 1" section.