Note 29 — INTRODUCTION.
Reading edition
The teponaztli was a cylindrical block of wood hollowed out below, and on its upper surface with two longitudinal parallel grooves running nearly from end to end, and a third in the centre at right angles to these, something in the shape of the letter I. The two tongues left between the grooves were struck with balls of rubber, ulli, on the ends of handles or drum sticks. These instruments varied greatly in size, some being five feet in length, and others so small that they could conveniently be carried suspended to the neck. The teponaztli was the house instrument of the Nahuas. It was played in the women's apartments to amuse the noble ladies, and the war captains carried one at the side to call the attention of their cohorts on the field of battle (Sahagun). The word is derived from the name of the tree whose wood was selected to make the drum, and this in turn from the verb tepunazoa, to swell, probably from some peculiarity of its growth.29