Tag: jewelry

ancientpeoples:

Maya jadeite earflare, 3 cm high (1 ¼ in)

Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, 

3rd–9th century

These two nesting ornaments represent one half of a pair of earflares. Set into a wide perforation in the wearer’s earlobe, these ornaments would have been anchored in place in various ways. In some cases, a bead (or beads) were set into the front of the earflare, anchoring it with the help of a set of beaded counterweights that were threaded through the earflare and hung behind the earlobe. Another possibility is that an L-shaped plug (likely made of wood) was fitted through the earflare’s central opening, or stem, from the back, holding the entire assemblage in place, snug against the wearer’s ear. […]

The artist responsible for these ornaments was clearly a master of his craft, coaxing this stubborn stone not only into a flawlessly nested pair of earflares, but carving them down to a remarkable 1-2mm thickness—making them translucent when held in front of a bright light. Maya jade carvers more frequently focused on bringing out the most saturated, richest greens of jade rather than creating transparent effects, so this delicate translucency is unusual.

The fact that jade endured, unchanged, for centuries, connected it to ideas of timelessness, permanency, and longevity. It is not surprising, then, that sets of nesting jade earflares are found most frequently with jade “death masks,” which were placed over the faces of deceased rulers at Maya sites (including Palenque, Calakmul, Oxkintok, and Dzibanché) to convey a sense of eternal life to the departed.

Source: The Metropolitan Museum

tlatollotl:

Fish effigy pectoral bead

Olmec
Middle Formative period
900–550 B.C.

Object Place: Mexico

Large tubular pectoral bead carved in the shape of a fish with wide-opened mouth and splayed tail. The asymmetry of the tail suggests it was carved from a larger object of different form. This unusual pendant-bead was once owned by twentieth-century Mexican artist and scholar Miguel Covarrubias. He was among the first to recognize the great antiquity of Olmec art and to champion its aesthetic power.

This unusual pendant was owned by twentieth-century Mexican artist and scholar Miguel Covarrubias, one of the first to recognize the great antiquity of Olmec art.

MFA

Painted Human Jawbones Used as Ancient Jewelry

archaeologicalnews:

Painted human mandibles that may have been worn like necklace pendants have been discovered at a ceremonial site in Mexico that dates back around 1,300 years.

In the same ceremonial area, numerous whistles and figurines were also discovered. Made out of ceramic, these objects had been smashed into thousands of fragments, not a single example found intact.

The whistles may have made owl-like sounds, archaeologists said. Some of the figurines were sculpted images of Xipe Totec, a Mesoamerican god associated with human sacrifice and agricultural activity. The god was often shown with human bones draped around his neck. 

Discovered in the spring and early summer of 2015, the ceremonial site where the painted human jawbones were found is located within an ancient residential complex at the site of Dainzú-Macuilxóchitl in the Oaxaca Valley in southern Mexico. Read more.