Description: A Chupícuaro shell trumpet made from a sea shell with stucco and pigment, measuring 110 x 150 x 245 mm. Chupícuaro is a an archaeological site which is to be found in the Lerma River basin in Western Mexico. The Chupícuaro people had a vibrant ceramic tradition and part of their culture involved the decoration and use os sea-shell/conch shell trumpets. Where it was found, in the western part Mexico, lies thousands of miles from the Caribbean where sea snail who lived in the shell grew up. This huge gap between the source of the shell and where it was found means that it was traded all that great distance over the Gulf of Mexico and and then the many hundreds of miles overland then being decorated decorated and blown in Chupícuaro in Western Mexico.

Findspot: Chupícuaro, Guanajuato State, Mexico

Dating: 300–900 CE

Current Location: The National Museum of the American Indian, George Gustav Heye Center, New York, NY. Museum ref: 24/2892

Citations: https://americanindian.si.edu/exhibitions/infinityofnations/meso-carib/242892.html