ANCIENT CARVED STONE DISK BEAD APPLIQUE FROM THE GREATER NICOYA PRE-COLUMBIAN CULTURE *PC391

Product Description

Elite ruling class members of the Pre-Columbian cultures of Central America displayed their status in their jewelry and garments.  Clothing decorated with appliques of various materials, created a fantastic visual of fashion awe to the commoner.  This double drilled carved stone disk bead would have been sewn onto a cotton garment and used in such clothing of a noble.  It is in perfect preservation, complete with intact drilled holes and intact original mineral deposits.  It can be displayed in the case provided, or even be incorporated into a unique piece of modern jewelry as it is still safe to wear.  The line running across one side is not a crack but a vein in the stone.

HISTORY

The Greater Nicoya Pre-Columbian Culture prevailed in the area of Latin America comprising the far southwestern coastal region of Honduras, the far northwestern Pacific coastal region of Costa Rica and the Pacific side of coastal Nicaragua.  This culture thrived for many centuries before the first Spanish explorers made contact around 1500 A.D..  The people had no written language but spoke Nahuatl and had continual contact with the Aztec (Mexica) Indians of Central Mexico.  The Gran Nicoya culture included many beautiful designs incorporating a variety of different mammals, reptiles and amphibians in effigy pieces.  Their pottery is also known for complex glyph-like painted decorations.  In the first 500 to 600 years A.D., resources became low as populations grew and warfare become increasingly evident.  Tribes in this region practiced head-hunting and victim sacrifice in their warfare.