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Bird

Avimorph pendants are among the most frequently found metal objects in the archaeological region of Gran Nicoya. The inventoried figure combines the attributes of various creatures (eagle, vulture, hummingbird, toucan). Its curved upper beak seems to suggest a bird of prey. The V-shaped wings, on the other hand, suggest a hummingbird-like creature. Although the headdress and the oversized tail sections of the object are very flat, they have no additional ornamentation. Despite its formal similarity to the objects of the Veraguas-Chiriquí group, the figure has several special technical and design features. These include the production by hearth moulding, the position of the spouts, the small size of the figure and the reduction of the depicted being to a few attributes. The elements listed seem to indicate limited material resources and limited technical skills on the part of the maker. The lack of traces of use on the object indicate that it was used exclusively as a burial object. (Künne 2005)

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Data Provider
Ethnologisches Museum
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Cataloguing data

Object type
Gold pendant
Dimensions
Objektmaß: 4 x 2,8 x 1,2 cm
Gewicht: 3,7 g
Material/Technique
Gold
Current location
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Inventory number
IV Ca 34239

Provenance and sources

when
700 - 1520
where
Costa Rica
Guanacaste [Provinz]
Bagaces [Kanton]
La Virgen [Ort]

who
Lehmann, Walter - Collectors

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