Jamie Peters, NPS Ancient TraditionsThe modern Pueblo peoples practice traditions that they have mantained, in some cases, for over a thousand years. Songs and ceremonies from ancient times survive not only through their continued practice in the modern age, but also through the rich oral histories modern Pueblo cultures have maintained.Music is one of the only traditions that is shared by all cultures around the world, and it was certainly a central part of ancestral Pueblo society. Archeological sites across the Southwest, from Great Houses to pit dwellings, reveal the extensive collection of instruments that ancestral Pueblo people used to make music. 
From "Sounds and Shells" by Paul Wiedeman, published in The Santa Fe New Mexican. Bells, Shells, and TrumpetsSome of the instruments found at Aztec Ruins were made of materials that were not found locally, and for which the ancestral Pueblo people had to trade. They obtained shells and copper bells via their extensive trading networks; you can read more about where the inhabitants of Aztec Ruins obtained items like these on this page.Copper bells were forged by people living in what is now north-central Mexico. These bells are used by modern Pueblo people as clothing adornments, which jingle in rhythm to the music as the dancers move. The bells found at Aztec Ruins were likely used for similar purposes. Shells originated in some cases from what is now coastal California, around the Santa Barbara Channel, and in other cases from the Gulf of California. Small conus shells from the Santa Barbara Channel were tied together along a string and turned into tinklers. These tinklers were also attached to clothing, being worn on bandoliers or sashes across the chest to make noise as a dancer moves. Much larger shells, murex shells, were obtained from the Gulf of California and used as trumpets. The blasts from these trumpets are loud enough to be heard from miles away, and they may have been used sometimes as a tool to alert people in addition to their ceremonial purposes. 
Nicoletta Browne, NPS Rasps and RattlesNot all of the musical instruments were made from materials that arrived by trade. Many were made from materials that were readily available to the ancestral Puebloans.Rasps are a type of musical instrument that traditionally were made from bones, often those from mule deer. To make music using a rasp, the musician rubs an unaltered piece of wood or bone across a piece of bone with notches in it. Rasps, also referred to as scrapers, are still common percussion instruments throughout the world, although nowadays they are usually made of materials other than bone. Musicians would also play rattles that made a shaking noise, like modern-day maracas. Rattles were usually made of gourds that had been dried, hollowed out, and filled with large seeds or small pebbles. In addition, rattles made of clay have been found throughout the Four Corners region; clay rattles are uncommon elsewhere, and their presence here probably has to do with the large amount of pottery made in the area. These clay rattles were often modified from pre-existing clay mugs or ladles, with the rattling noise being made by small stone or clay pellets placed inside the hollow space. 
Nicoletta Browne, NPS Whistles and FlutesBone whistles are possibly the most commmon musical instrument found in archeological sites throughout the southwest. This instrument is capable of producing only one or two tones, and it may have been used to imitate bird calls for either hunting or ceremonial purposes.Flutes, in contrast, can produce three or more tones and are more suited for playing melodies. Most flutes found were made of either wood or reeds, although a few bone flutes have also been found. 
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NPS Photo DrumsDrums are prominent in the music and ceremonies of modern Pueblo societies, and they are used to provide rhythm and structure for their dances. Mysteriously, however, no items clearly recognizable as drums have been found during excavations of the great houses at Aztec Ruins National Monuments. A few different hypotheses have been proposed in order to explain this absence.One possibility is that the drums of the ancestral Pueblo people may have been built in such a way that we would not easily recognize them in their modern state. Drums may have been made using the same general construction principles used to make modern ones: by stretching a membrane over a drum "shell". Drums might have been made from ceramic, basketry material, or gourds, all of which would survive longer than a thin membrane made of animal skin. Thus, it is possible that items appearing to be fragments of baskets, gourd containers, or pots may have originally been drums. Another theory is that instead of having hand drums, the ancestral Pueblo people here may have used the vaults in the Great Kiva as foot drums during their ceremonies. They may have placed wooden boards over the vaults and then pounded the boards with their feet in rhythm, the vaults serving as an echoing chamber. Both the oral traditions of the modern Pueblo peoples and archaeological evidence provide support to this theory, and some modern Pueblo dances that have taken place in the Great Kiva have involved dancers using the vaults for this exact purpose. 
NPS Photo The Human VoiceThough not always thought of as an "instrument", it's very important to consider the usage of singing and other vocalizations in making music. Just as music is found in cultures around the world, the different sounds that the human body can make are an integral part of this music.The voice cannot, in itself, be left behind as an archeological artifact. However, it was almost unquestionably the first "instrument" used by humans, and both the builders of the Great House here and their ancestors would certainly have had plenty of songs. Their modern descendents have hundreds, if not thousands, of songs related to different aspects of life. Across today's Pueblos, there are over a hundred songs sung during the process of grinding corn. For chores such as corn grinding, singing during the process provided rhythm and structure to the work, and it also gave people something to do during the repetive and time-consuming task, since singing doesn't require any use of your hands. In addition, song and dance are the centerpiece of modern Pueblo ceremonies. Like their descendents, the ancestral Pueblo people must have used the human voice as an expression of their prayers and as an important component of their rituals. From the Past to the PresentVariations of the musical instruments found at Aztec Ruins and other ancestral Pueblo sites are still used today in the ceremonies and songs of modern Pueblo cultures. By performing their ceremonial songs and dances today, modern Pueblo peoples are maintaining a tradition of theirs that stretches back a thousand years and more.Some of the modern Pueblos welcome visitors for their special feast days, which blend ancient traditions with modern practices, including those introduced during the coming of the Spanish and the Catholic Church. If you are lucky enough to visit on a feast day, be respectful to your hosts and attentive in observing their customs. You will see dances and hear instruments and songs that, in many ways, are similar to those you would have seen in ancient times. In a way, you will be encountering echoes from the past. 
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Last updated: July 22, 2022