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Fragment of a clay vessel

Avimorph, hollow head protome. The fragment has two small openings on the beak. The object has been smoothed, slurried, primed, painted and lightly polished. The primer and paint are partially eroded. The pottery has several small flakes. The fragment has a white-yellowish base colour, which was painted red-orange and black-brown on the outside of the object. The largely realistic protome represents a bird of prey with two round, red spots on its head and two upright tufts of feathers (?). According to Lothrop 1926: Nicoya polychrome ware, animal effigy vessel. Cultural significance: the objects of the Papagayo Policromo group represent the beginning of polychrome painting on a white-yellowish ground in the Gran-Nicoya region. The tradition lasted until the Policromo Tardío (1350-1520d.C.). Its decoration shows a strong Mesoamerican influence. This manifests itself in the replacement of lizard and bat themes with depictions of cats of prey and snakes. Similar protomes are known from the groups Pataky Policromo (1350-1000d.C.), Ulua Policromo (950-550d.C.) and from the Tohil-Plumbat pottery (1200-950d.C.). Some variants of the Papagayo group reached the central Mexican highlands. (Künne 2004)

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Data Provider
Ethnologisches Museum Show original at data provider

Cataloguing data

Object type
Fragment of a clay vessel
Dimensions
Height: 4,7 cm
Depth: 5,7 cm
Width: 4,4 cm
Material/Technique
Sound
Current location
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Inventory number
IV Ca 45525

Provenance and sources

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

Information about the record

Legal status metadata
CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED
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