Jadeite ornamental breastplate in the form of a human face (Olmec).It was reused (as an heirloom?) b
Jadeite ornamental breastplate in the form of a human face (Olmec).It was reused (as an heirloom?) by a Maya lord, as can be seen by the two Mayan glyphson the left-hand side. The glyphs are drawn backwards so that theyface the Olmec portrait, which suggests that it was believed to holdpower as a symbol of ancestral, dynastic authority. Shell-work andornamentation probably decorated the eyes’ depressed irises and thepierced nose. This breastplate is 10.3cm high and 11.3cm wide,broken on both sides, and may have been part of a larger breastplate. -- source link
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