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Breastplate in the shape of a bird with multiple heads

Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta - Tairona Period900/1600

Museo del Oro, Bogotá

Museo del Oro, Bogotá
Bogota, Colombia

This breastplate displays the basic form of a bird with spread wings and with a forked tail. It is probably the depiction of some sort of ritual. Four masked shamans appear in a squatting position on the heads of four birds of prey, themselves perched on the back of the larger bird.

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  • Title: Breastplate in the shape of a bird with multiple heads
  • Creator: Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta - Tairona Period
  • Creator Lifespan: 900/1600
  • Creator Nationality: Colombia
  • Creator Death Place: Colombia
  • Creator Birth Place: Colombia
  • Date: 900/1600
  • Physical Dimensions: w205 x h182 mm
  • Type: Goldwork
  • External Link: People and Gold in Pre-Hispanic Colombia
  • Technique: Lost wax casting, hammering and embossing in tumbaga with depletion gilding
  • Finding: Colombia, Magdalena, Ciénaga
  • Accession number: O12943
Museo del Oro, Bogotá

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