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Necklace with different types of semi-spherical beads | Ancient Mexico. Pre-Columbian Art Galleries | Museo Amparo, Puebla

Necklace with different types of semi-spherical beads

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Culture Unknown
Region Unknown
Period Unknown
Year Unknown
Technique

Stone polished by grinding

Measures

1.8 x 2.3 cm (diameter) 49 beads

Location Gallery 4. Society and Customs
Record number 52 22 MA FA 57PJ 1121
Researcher
  • Verónica Hernández Díaz

This necklace has numerous semi-spherical fine, hard stone beads with shades of different colors; the predominant color is medium grayish brown, and beads with smooth surfaces alternate with those with a channel or a central slot. The piece bears witness to the importance of ornamentation, perhaps to the elevated place in the hierarchy of the woman or the man who wore it, and definitely the existence of a lithic industry in Mesoamerica.

The abundant mines located in Mexico were intensively exploited by the ancient Mesoamericans, and it was from these that they stocked up on wide varieties of precious stones that allowed the artists to develop complex lapidary work; other means of obtaining the raw material was the collection at ground level or in the beds of streams or rivers.

In addition to material and physical qualities such as the color of the objects, in this case an ornament; the origin of the same raw material played a major role in the cultural values attributed to them. Exotic stones arriving from distant lands conferred a great prestige to their wearers and, on the other hand, for scholars their uncovering in original contexts serves as a testimony to the complex networks of trade and commerce that existed throughout the vast and diverse pluricultural Mesoamerican territory.

In this regard, materials could travel and be worked on in workshops near to places where the objects were in demand, or these could arrive already completed, which means that in some regions there were more developed and recognized lapidary traditions with the specialized knowledge required for different types of stones.

With respect to jewelry, in addition to beaded necklaces; earrings, lip plugs, rings, hoops, bracelets, pendants, masks and piercings were made from stone. The ornaments were used in everyday life, on special occasions and as part of the burial offerings.

 

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