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Details / Information for Pin Ornament

Pin Ornament

c. 500–200 BCE

Peru, North Highlands, Chavín de Huantar(?), Chavín style

Medium
hammered and cut gold
Measurements
Overall: 7.2 cm (2 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Tishman 1958.179
Public Domain
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Location
232 Andean
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Description

There seems to be a link between Chavín religion and appearance of the Andes’ first large precious-metal objects, made using revolutionary new metallurgical processes. Chavín may have developed these technical innovations to express the inexpressible, the "wholly other" nature of its religion. In many areas, elite men and women wore the ornaments as emblems of their ties to this religion, and eventually were buried with them. These 16 objects, along with three others not in the museum’s collection, are said to have come as a group from Chavín itself.
A gold pin is shaped like a long, tapering spike topped with an angular human head. The square face features flat ears and two horizontal bands wrapping the crown. Incised lines mark the cheeks, and recessed rectangles form the eyes above a broad nose and straight mouth. Below the neck, the ornament tapers into a smooth, pointed needle. The warm yellow surface suggests hammered and cut craftsmanship.

Pin Ornament

c. 500–200 BCE

Peru, North Highlands, Chavín de Huantar(?), Chavín style

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