56 



MOLLUSCA IN THE MaYA LoWLANDS 



of Area zebra was used for this purpose. The valves 

 were sometimes painted with cinnabar. 



Effective trumpets could be made by cutting off 

 the apical whorls from the larger conchs [Strombus, 

 Pleuroploca, Turbinella, Busycon), and we know 

 this to have been done at various sites. A trumpet 

 made from a large Turbinella angulata was cached 

 under a Middle Formative structure at Dzibil- 

 chaltun. When I finally succeeded in producing a 

 blast on this instrument (and it was a blast), I was 

 convinced that much of my lip membrane was per- 

 manently destroyed and my front teeth perilously 

 shaken. Another, perhaps unique, use of shells is to 

 be found at a small ruined temple some 1500 m. up 

 the Caribbean shore from the lighthouse at Punta 

 Celarain, the southern tip of Cozumel Island. The 

 small temple itself has, as a roof ornament, a perfect 

 diminutive temple some 50 cm. high with a rounded 

 spire atop. Set into the spire, and facing the four 

 directions, are four vertical series of Strombus trum- 

 pets of varying sizes — perhaps the earliest recorded 

 wind-vane with built-in sound. 



Use of Shell as Raw Material 



At Dzibilchaltun, several species of molluscs were 

 used for making jewelry and a very few utilitarian 

 artifacts, in all of which the shell form had been 

 almost or entirely lost. Again, detailed discussion 

 and comparative study are considered more appro- 

 priate to our separate report on artifacts of the site, 

 and will be presented there.^ 



The 169 fragments of identified altered shell 

 represented 8 species of pelecypods, 7 of gastropods. 

 Fine flakes of Atrina (1), hognomon (31), and 

 Pinctada (i) were mostly found in caches contain- 

 ing other materials such as jade and pyrites, and 

 were probably used, or intended for use, in mosaics. 

 Five smaller pelecypods were used in altered form 

 as pendants: Chione (i), Dinocardium (i), Dosinia 

 (i), and Mercenaria (2). Two small gastropods 

 were given special uses: Conus spurius atlanticus 

 (6) was used to cut out small triangular pendants, 

 probably retaining the shell's original attractive 

 coloration. Horizontal sections of Oliva reticularis 

 (3) were cut to make corkscrew-like artifacts of 



5 Techniques of manufacture are well described in Fewkes, 

 1883. An excellent survey of Mesoamerican shell artifacts may 

 be found in Kidder, Jennings, and Shook, 1946, pp. 145—52. 



unknown use. The great bulk of shell for jewelry 

 making was from the larger conchs and the Spondy- 

 lus: Strombus costatus (74), Busycon contrarium 

 (i), Pleuroploca gigantea (4), Turbinella angulata 

 (3), Vasum muricatum (i), and Spondylus ameri- 

 canus (39). It should be noted that a considerable 

 number of smaller conch fragments and most of the 

 finished jewelry of white shell could not be identified 

 surely even to genus, and are therefore not included 

 in the present tabulations. Most of this material was 

 probably S. costatus. Spondylus, on the other hand, 

 is more completely listed, as even small fragments 

 of the shell can be recognized from its cameo-like 

 qualities. Finally, we should re-emphasize that all 

 of the worked shell from Dzibilchaltun forms but 

 a very small fraction (14 per cent) of the total 

 recovered at the site. 



Use of Molluscs as Food 



Molluscs, when used for food, will usually be 

 collected from the nearest available shore. They will 

 not normally be transported over any considerable 

 area from their point of collection, and the shells 

 would normally be left on the beach to form the 

 familiar coastal middens (a 5-pound conch would 

 not be carried far inland for its half-pound of edible 

 meat). But inlanders under dietary need will go to 

 unbelievable lengths to enjoy products of the sea. 

 When I was surveying the upper Candelaria drain- 

 age along the Guatemala frontier in 1938—39, one 

 ate well in the area if he had a gun — and most people 

 had, and used it. When only wild turkey, venison, 

 and peccary were available as meat (which was a 

 delight for us), the natives would lament that if we 

 had only come a week earlier or later, it would have 

 been flavored with cazon (the baby hammerhead 

 shark so traditionally dear to Campechanos). We 

 suffered little, but did have a rough time adjusting to 

 local gourmets' tastes when the occasional muladas 

 would arrive loaded down with 5— lo-day-old, liqui- 

 fied shark (which we could smell many hours before 

 the mulada arrived, if the wind were in the right 

 direction). This would then, with gusto, be merged 

 with all tortillas, soups, or the meat dishes which 

 otherwise would have been so tasty. I cannot believe 

 that the choice, by a people otherwise discriminating, 

 could have been other than purely gustatory. When 

 one considers trade from the sea, such irrational 

 factors must be considered. 



