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Lobster Pendant

c. 1000–1500
cast gold
Overall: 8.3 x 5.8 cm (3 1/4 x 2 5/16 in.)
James Albert Ford Memorial Fund 1943.290
Location: 233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region
Public Domain
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Description

Among the pendants shown here are a crustacean (1943.290), an animal-headed figure (1948.18), and two pendants featuring birds (1951.442 and 1946.223). The latter were dubbed aguilas (eagles) by Christopher Columbus, who saw natives wearing them as necklace ornaments. Modern researchers are not as sure of the species shown, but some believe that they are birds of prey because talons and beaks are prominent and often clutch something, in one example here a small, disembodied head that holds a clapper. In both examples, two tufts in the form of crocodiles in profile flank the birds’ heads.
Lobster Pendant

Lobster Pendant

c. 1000–1500

Costa Rica, Diquís region, 11th-16th century

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