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Clay vessel

Three-legged, shallow bowl with central rim. The object has been smoothed, sanded and primed on both sides. Its exterior is polychrome painted and polished. The primer and paint are heavily eroded. The restored vessel has several cracks. The outside of the pottery has a white-yellowish base colour, which has been painted red, orange and black-brown. On the wall there is a high, surrounding frieze. It shows stylised zoomorphic motifs, which Lothrop (1926) classifies as plumed serpent, type C. The base is decorated with several deep concentric triangles. The bimorph legs are reminiscent of a standing avimorph creature. A black-brown band runs along the inside of the object. The wall and floor were primed red. According to Lothrop 1926: highland polychrome ware. Cultural significance: the type was produced exclusively in the south of the Gran Nicoya region and traded to the Central Highlands and the Atlantic region of Costa Rica. The pottery is known both from burials and from settlement contexts. It was often associated with the Altiplano Policromo group (1350-800d.C.). The avimorph legs of the inventoried object are reminiscent of a bird creature, which was also used as decoration in the Altiplano Policromo group. (Künne 2004)

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Data Provider
Ethnologisches Museum Show original at data provider

Cataloguing data

Object type
crock
Dimensions
Diameter: 7 cm
Wandstärke: 0,55 cm bis 2,4 cm
Height: 10 cm
Depth: 15,1 cm
Width: 17,3 cm
Material/Technique
Sound
Current location
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Inventory number
IV Ca 41541

Provenance and sources

  • Production
    when
    Policromo Medio (800 - 1350)
    where
    Costa Rica
  • Assignment to a curated holding:
    American Archaeology

Information about the record

Legal status metadata
CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED
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