Openwork Pendant
Not on view
This jade pendant is carved with an axe-like profile and thinned into a translucent plaque. A drilled hole at the top of the pendant may have been used to suspend it as part of Olmec ritual regalia. Four parallel lines run the length of the pendant, made by a combination of drilling and string-sawing. An incised cruciform design, a motif common in Olmec art, probably references the cardinal directions.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
