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Harvard archaeologists excavated the eight ornaments in this case from several burials at Sitio Conte, a cemetery famous for its lavish graves of powerful chieftains. The young man buried in Grave 26 was such a chief. His status was stunningly memorialized by 21 human companions and 475 objects, many of them personal ornaments made of gold, including the large chest plaque (no. 2) and the rod-shaped ear ornament (no. 3) shown here. The creature on the chest plaque, found close to the chief’s body, has reptile claws and perhaps the head crest of an iguana. Its meaning is unknown but perhaps, as in later periods, reptilian imagery and the warm gleam of gold linked rulers with the sun’s creative force.

Page data

Page
1
Source index
0
Type
photo
Media ID
5333e95df8f12e3e
Size
unknown

Document data

ID
128357
Core
obj
Type
object
DTO data
{
    "id": "128357",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "Ornament from Sitio Conte: Animal Pendant(?)",
    "description": "Harvard archaeologists excavated the eight ornaments in this case from several burials at Sitio Conte, a cemetery famous for its lavish graves of powerful chieftains. The young man buried in Grave 26 was such a chief. His status was stunningly memorialized by 21 human companions and 475 objects, many of them personal ornaments made of gold, including the large chest plaque (no. 2) and the rod-shaped ear ornament (no. 3) shown here. The creature on the chest plaque, found close to the chief’s body, has reptile claws and perhaps the head crest of an iguana. Its meaning is unknown but perhaps, as in later periods, reptilian imagery and the warm gleam of gold linked rulers with the sun’s creative force.",
    "date": "c. 400–900",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1951.318",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q79908804"
    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Jewelry"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1951.318/1951.318_web.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1951.318/1951.318_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1951.318/1951.318_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 4.3 x 5.5 cm (1 11/16 x 2 3/16 in.)",
    "cul": [
        "Panama, Conte style, 5th - 10th century"
    ],
    "accession": "1951.318"
}

Context sent to Scholar

Document identity
{
    "localId": "128357",
    "label": "Ornament from Sitio Conte: Animal Pendant(?)",
    "core": "obj",
    "dtoType": "object"
}
Document source metadata
{
    "id": "128357",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "Ornament from Sitio Conte: Animal Pendant(?)",
    "description": "Harvard archaeologists excavated the eight ornaments in this case from several burials at Sitio Conte, a cemetery famous for its lavish graves of powerful chieftains. The young man buried in Grave 26 was such a chief. His status was stunningly memorialized by 21 human companions and 475 objects, many of them personal ornaments made of gold, including the large chest plaque (no. 2) and the rod-shaped ear ornament (no. 3) shown here. The creature on the chest plaque, found close to the chief’s body, has reptile claws and perhaps the head crest of an iguana. Its meaning is unknown but perhaps, as in later periods, reptilian imagery and the warm gleam of gold linked rulers with the sun’s creative force.",
    "date": "c. 400–900",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1951.318",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q79908804"
    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Jewelry"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1951.318/1951.318_web.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1951.318/1951.318_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1951.318/1951.318_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 4.3 x 5.5 cm (1 11/16 x 2 3/16 in.)",
    "cul": [
        "Panama, Conte style, 5th - 10th century"
    ],
    "accession": "1951.318"
}
Document source extras
{
    "tec": "manatee bone",
    "tombstone": "Ornament from Sitio Conte: Animal Pendant(?), c. 400–900. Panama, Conte style, 5th - 10th century. Manatee bone; overall: 4.3 x 5.5 cm (1 11/16 x 2 3/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1951.318",
    "collection": "AA - Intermediate Region",
    "citations": [
        {
            "citation": "Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.",
            "page_number": "Mentioned and reproduced: P. 337"
        }
    ],
    "url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1951.318",
    "creditline": "John L. Severance Fund",
    "updatedAt": "2026-05-29 06:37:35.563000",
    "imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1951.318/1951.318_print.jpg",
    "sourceId": 128357,
    "dept": "Art of the Americas",
    "coll": "AA - Intermediate Region",
    "med": "manatee bone",
    "thumbnail_url": null,
    "image_url": null
}
Page context
{
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    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1951.318/1951.318_web.jpg",
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}