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Figure

700–900 CE

Not on view

One of the most elaborate bone items from Grave 32 at Sitio Conte is a sperm-whale (Physeter macrocephalus) tooth carved in the round to represent a complex mythological creature, perhaps a version of the Crocodile God. The crouching figure’s head, eyes, mouth, hands, and feet were overlaid with hammered sheet gold.

Una de las más elaboradas piezas de hueso del Entierro 32 de Sitio Conte es un diente de cachalote (Physeter macrocephalus) esculpido con el fin de representar un complejo ser mitológico, quizás una versión del Dios Cocodrilo. La cabeza, los ojos, la boca, las manos y los pies de la figura agachada fueron cubiertos de oro martillado.

Figure, Whale ivory, gold overlay , Coclé — Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Figure

Date: 700–900 CE

Geography: Panama

Culture: Coclé

Medium: Whale ivory, gold overlay

Dimensions: H. 6 7/16 × W. 1 5/8 × D. 1 9/16 in. (16.3 × 4.2 × 3.9 cm)

Classification: Bone/Ivory-Ornaments

Credit Line: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Peabody Museum Expedition, 1930 (30-49-20/C12274)

Accession Number: SL.4.2018.5.45

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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.