Armband

Huastec artists carved arm bands like this piece from the shell of the Florida horse conch snail (also known as the giant horse conch, Triplofusus giganteus), which could grow up to two feet in length, producing a shell with a diameter wide enough to cut into the circular pieces seen here. These locally sourced shells came from the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Veracruz. Artists cut, shaped, smoothed, and decorated their surfaces using sandstone, basalt, obsidian, and flint tools, producing high-quality pieces worn by those wealthy enough to afford them.

The near-identical designs on this arm band and another in the Met’s collection (see MMA 1979.206.929) suggest that they functioned as a pair, likely created by the same artist(s) or workshop. The artist(s) divided the circumference of the band into rectangular frames that contain alternating designs: overlapping scale-like curves and a combination of circles and L-shaped incisions. Each band terminates in a “fringe” (marked by three circles and four spiraling volutes) that follows the shell’s natural shape and curvature. These geometric motifs echo others seen throughout Mesoamerican cultures.

Huastec carved shell objects such as these arm bands show the extent of trade and interaction between cultural groups. Huastec-style shell objects have been found in the Maya world, in Central Mexico, and as far north as the Mississippian cultures of North America. Similarities in style between objects found in all of these regions suggest that these groups were engaged in cross-cultural interactions and were well aware of each other’s artistic styles and cultural systems, reminding the modern viewer of the interconnected nature of the ancient world.

Catherine Nuckols, Sylvan C. Coleman and Pamela Coleman Fellow in the History of Art and Visual Culture, 2025

Further Reading

Cabrera, Patricio Dávila. "Trapezoidal Shell Pectorals from the Huasteca." In The Huasteca: Culture, History, and Interregional Exchange, edited by Katherine A. Faust, Kim N. Richter, 128-151. University of Oklahoma Press, 2015.

Velázquez, Adrián. Tipología de los objetos de concha del Templo Mayor de Tenochtitlan. Colección Científica 392. Mexico City: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, 1999.

Velázquez Castro, Adrián. "Trabajos huastecos en concha." Arqueología mexicana 14, no. 79 (2006): 54-57.

Velazquez, Adrian. “El trabajo de la concha y los estilos tecnológicos del México prehispánico.” Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 78 (2007): 77S- 82S.

Velázquez Castro, Adrián. "The study of shell object manufacturing techniques from the perspective of experimental archaeology and work traces." In Archaeology, new approaches in theory and techniques, edited by Imma Ollich-Castanyer, 229-250. InTech, 2012.

References

Smith, Paul J., Robert Riley, Paul S. Wingert, Oppi Untracht, Diane Lee Carroll, Frederick J. Dockstader, and Diane Waldman. The Art of Personal Adornment (New York: American Craftsmen’s Council, Museum of Contemporary Crafts, 1965), 22.