Teponaztli
The teponaztli is a horizontal slit drum made from a hollowed log whose H-shaped cut in the top produces two different pitches, struck with rubber-tipped sticks (olmaitl) rather than played by hand. Alongside the upright huehuetl it formed the core percussion of Aztec ritual music, and early accounts say its deep, carrying tone could be heard across Tenochtitlan during festivals, dances and war ceremonies. Fray Bernardino de Sahagun's Florentine Codex describes the instrument in detail, and colonial codices show pairs of players beating it before temple courtyards. Surviving examples, often ca