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Monkey Bell

Veraguas-Chiriquí

900–1521 CE

Not on view

Bells constitute one of the largest classes of metal objects deposited in the Sacred Cenote. Likely attached to clothing, they attest to the auditory aspects of ritual practices at Chichen Itza and other sacred centers. These cast gold bells and pendants were produced in the Veraguas-Chiriquí region of ancient Costa Rica and Panama.

Los cascabeles eran una de las más importantes clases de objetos de metal depositadas en el Cenote Sagrado. Muy probablemente sujetadas a las prendas, reflejan las prácticas rituales auditivas de Chichen Itzá y otros centros sagrados. Estos cascabeles moldeados hechos de una aleación de oro y los pendientes de cabeza de venado eran elaborados en la región de Veraguas-Chiriquí, en el antiguo Panamá y Costa Rica.

Monkey Bell, Gold, Veraguas-Chiriquí — Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Monkey Bell

Date: 900–1521 CE

Geography: Costa Rica or Panama; Mexico, Yucatan

Culture: Veraguas-Chiriquí

Medium: Gold

Dimensions: H. 1 9/16 × W. 1 7/16 × D. 3/4 in. (3.9 × 3.6 × 1.9 cm)

Classifications: Metalwork-Ornaments, Gold

Credit Line: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Gift of C. P. Bowditch and Charles Peabody, 1910 (10-73-20/C7734)

Accession Number: SL.4.2018.5.10

The Met

The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing at The Met

The Met's collection of art of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and North, Central, and South America comprises more than eleven thousand works of art of varied materials and types, representing diverse cultural traditions from as early as 3000 B.C.E. to the present.