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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.

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Page
1
Source index
0
Type
photo
Media ID
4dff57c83e9ff61e
Size
unknown

Document data

ID
135161
Core
obj
Type
object
DTO data
{
    "id": "135161",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "Ear Spool",
    "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/1958.191",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q60780064"
    ],
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    ],
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    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1958.191/1958.191_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1958.191/1958.191_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "Diameter: 3.1 cm (1 1/4 in.); Overall: 3.2 cm (1 1/4 in.)",
    "cul": [
        "Panama, Conte style, 5th - 10th century"
    ],
    "accession": "1958.191"
}

Context sent to Scholar

Document identity
{
    "localId": "135161",
    "label": "Ear Spool",
    "core": "obj",
    "dtoType": "object"
}
Document source metadata
{
    "id": "135161",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "Ear Spool",
    "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/1958.191",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
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    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Metalwork"
    ],
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    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1958.191/1958.191_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1958.191/1958.191_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "Diameter: 3.1 cm (1 1/4 in.); Overall: 3.2 cm (1 1/4 in.)",
    "cul": [
        "Panama, Conte style, 5th - 10th century"
    ],
    "accession": "1958.191"
}
Document source extras
{
    "tec": "hammered gold",
    "tombstone": "Ear Spool, c. 400–900. Panama, Conte style, 5th - 10th century. Hammered gold; diameter: 3.1 cm (1 1/4 in.); overall: 3.2 cm (1 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Roberta Holden Bole Fund, 1958.191",
    "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. 336"
        }
    ],
    "url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1958.191",
    "creditline": "Roberta Holden Bole Fund",
    "updatedAt": "2026-05-29 06:54:45.141000",
    "imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1958.191/1958.191_print.jpg",
    "sourceId": 135161,
    "dept": "Art of the Americas",
    "coll": "AA - Intermediate Region",
    "med": "hammered gold",
    "thumbnail_url": null,
    "image_url": null
}
Page context
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