~ Crab Vessel with Double Spout.

Place of origin: Colombia, Calima Region

Period: Ilama Period

Date: 1500 B.C.-A.D. 100

Bowl Depicting Foxes* Attacking Human

This design is often referred to as the "curly-tailed animal," and other pendants of the same style have been found in Panama, Colombia, and Costa Rica.

Above: two "curly-tailed animal" pendants from Panama, c.450-950 CE (top) and c.50-450 CE (bottom)

As this publication explains:

Among the intriguing and much-favored Panamanian cast pendants is the curly- tailed animal, a form that is found in both Colombia and lower Central America. Believed to date to as early as the second century A.D., when gold working was introduced into Panama from Colombia, the Panamanian versions are said to belong to the "Initial" style. The curly- tailed animals, so called for the impressively large tails that extend up over their backs, vary considerably in detail and have been identified as everything from dogs to ducks, but the tail, at least, is thought to be simian in derivation. It is clearly the significant element of the composition, and, when the pendant was worn, the tail would have been the most visible part of the ornament.

Produced for centuries in lower Central America, the "curly tails" were rendered in both gold and semiprecious stone; they were one of the few ancient images to be made in both materials.

Above: a "curly-tailed animal" pendant made of agate, c.100-800 CE

This page also expands on the blended characteristics that define the "curly-tailed animal" style:

Artists in the lands that are now part of the modern nations of Colombia, Panama, and Costa Rica created pendants and figures of a hybrid creature known to scholars as the curly-tailed animal.

The diversity of zoological attributes present on this and similar pendants precludes a definitive identification of any specific animal, but the capuchin monkey (Cebus capucinis), coatimundi (Nasua narica), or even domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) may have provided inspiration.

Why Indigenous Artifacts Should be Returned to Indigenous Communities

Sources & More Info:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Curly-Tailed Animal Pendant

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Curly-Tailed Pendants 2, 3, 4, and 5

Cleveland Art Museum: Agate Animal Pendant

female dog with corn cob | c. 300 BCE - 600 CE | found in colima, méxico; shaft tombs culture