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Exhibiting Historical Art: Out of the Vault: Stories of People and Things

Pre-Columbian Gold Eagle Pendants

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Gold bird-form pendants were a favored form of personal ornament in ancient Central America, and are perhaps the best known type of Pre-Columbian gold object. They were made to be worn suspended around the neck, and while the pendants differ in specific details, the basic configuration is usually the same- extended wings over open, splayed tails and heads, and beaks that project strongly forward. These personal ornaments were fabricated in many sizes; some are barely an inch high and may have been made for children, while others, such as this example, would fully adorn a large male chest.
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1. Bribri mythology The Bribri people are indigenous to the low-lying coastal areas of southern Costa Rica and northern Panama, and they are the original inhabitants of Talamanca. The principal deity, in Bribri mythology is called Sibo or Sibu (creator of all things), and often manifests itself in the form of a kite or a buzzard wearing a collar around its neck.
2. Bird-form Significance The pendants were first named aguilas (eagles) by Christopher Columbus who first noted them as he sailed along the Caribbean coast of Central America at the beginning of the sixteenth century. It is likely, however, that aspects of many different birds went into the artistic formation of the pendants, although specialists today do not always agree on which birds those might be. The symbolic meaning of bird pendants is not exactly known, but one theory holds that the pendants represent birds of prey, and that they functioned as protective emblems.