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This information was automatically generated from data provided by MOA: University of British Columbia. It has been standardized to aid in finding and grouping information within the RRN. Accuracy and meaning should be verified from the Data Source tab.

Description

A thick, gilded disc with an incised design of a bird in profile. It has a semi-circular eye and vertical plumes on the head. There are two small squares at the centre of the bird's body. The design fits inside a circular incised border. There is a hole above the head, near the incised border.

History Of Use

Discs like this have not been published but Sr. Walter Alva of the Bruning Museum in Lambayeque says this type of ornament is associated with Vicus graves. The precise use is not known although the hole suggests they were suspended. Several Vicus effigy ceramics portray a disc hung around the neck of the figure.

Specific Techniques

This disc has a relatively thick and continuous layer of yellow-coloured metal over the surface of one side, including the incisions. The incisions are trapezoidal in cross-section and made up of a series of short, straight lines. ESM analysis (Sf597) showed surface is half gold, half copper while the interior is mostly copper with some gold and a trace of silver. Of the gilding techniques known for the Vicus area, electrochemical replacement plating is most consistent with these features.

Narrative

Vicus style ? Early Intermediate Period, 300 B.C.E. - 600 C.E.?

Item History

  • Made in Peru between 301 BCE and 600
  • Collected between 1949 and 1966
  • Owned by Anonymous before May 4, 1981
  • Received from Anonymous (Donor) on May 4, 1981

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