Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Quetzalcōātl" in English language version.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)This breastplate, the insignia of the wind god, called in Nahuatl the ehēcacōzcatl, (the 'spirally voluted wind jewel') was made by cutting across the upper portion of a marine conch shell, and drilling holes for suspension by a cord. Such conch shell breastplates were either hung on the sculpture of the god himself or were worn by the high priests, the earthly representatives of this god. According to such sixteenth-century Spanish authorities as Fray Bernardino de Sahagun, [...] the title of Quetzalcoatl was reserved for the high priests or pontiffs among the Aztecs and other inhabitants of Mexico. Only they were entitled to wear the emblem of ehēcacōzcatl, the insignia of this god. Such marine shell breastplates are therefore extremely rare. Of the few that survived the Spanish Conquest, most were destroyed by overly zealous friars; only a handful have been turned up by archaeologists.