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Spoon with Human Figure

c. 500–200 BCE
hammered and cut gold
Overall: 2.6 cm (1 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Tishman 1958.177
Location: 232 Andean
Public Domain
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Description

There seems to be a link between Chavín religion and appearance of the Andes’ first large precious-metal objects, made using revolutionary new metallurgical processes. Chavín may have developed these technical innovations to express the inexpressible, the "wholly other" nature of its religion. In many areas, elite men and women wore the ornaments as emblems of their ties to this religion, and eventually were buried with them. These 16 objects, along with three others not in the museum’s collection, are said to have come as a group from Chavín itself.
Spoon with Human Figure

Spoon with Human Figure

c. 500–200 BCE

Peru, North Highlands, Chavín de Huantar(?), Chavín style

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