Muiraquitã, frog sculpture

The muiraquitãs - common in the form of frogs and, more rarely, of birds, fish and other animals - were almost always made of green stones, like jadeítas, Nefritas and amazonitas. Used as pendants, they also appear adorned female headdresses in ceramic figurines of Santarém. Wrapped in legends, the muiraquitãs have long been considered powerful amulets against all kinds of evil. Apparently, Santarém was its center of production, although there is a considerable dispersion of such pieces, perhaps as a result of extensive networks of exchanges and ideological diffusion. These networks reached the Caribbean region where artifacts produced in Santarém are found.