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Clay vessel

Bellied, round-bottomed jug with a broad overhanging rim. Both sides of the object have been smoothened and polished. Its exterior is primed, painted and polished. The primer and paint are partially eroded. The rim has several fractures. The pottery has a salmon-coloured undercoat, which was painted red and black on the outside of the vessel. There is a circumferential red frieze on the body, which consists of four rectangular pictorial fields. The opposing sectors have identical motifs. They show highly stylised lizards that appear in side profile. The depictions are bordered by thin, black outer lines. The high and low parts of the body are decorated with surrounding red and black lines. The inside of the object remains undecorated except for the red-painted edge. According to Lothrop 1926: Nicoya polychrome ware, alligator motif, type A. Cultural significance: the Galo and Carrillo Policromo groups (800-500d.C.) represent the first truly polychrome ceramics produced in the Gran Nicoya region. Their design (shape, colouring, individual motifs) is strongly reminiscent of the Ulua Policromo group (950-550d.C.). Similar lizard-shaped decorations are known from the Costa Rican highlands (protomes) and from the Gran Chiriquí region (painting). (Künne 2004)

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Data Provider
Ethnologisches Museum Show original at data provider

Cataloguing data

Object type
crock
Dimensions
Diameter: 5,7 cm
Diameter: 9,6 cm
Height: 12,8 cm
Depth: 15 cm
Width: 15,1 cm
Wandstärke: 0,8 cm (am Rand)
Material/Technique
Sound
Current location
Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Inventory number
IV Ca 43667

Provenance and sources

  • Production
    when
    Policromo Antiguo (500 - 800)
    where
    Costa Rica
    Guanacaste
    Filadelfia
    El Viejo E
  • Assignment to a curated holding:
    American Archaeology

Information about the record

Legal status metadata
CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED
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