Ceremonial Mace (Club) Head: Bird (Male Curassow?)
Unknown Artist
300 BCE–600 CE
Medium
stone
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Art of the Americas
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of John Wise
Accession Number
1949.194
About this artwork
Probably once mounted on wooden shafts, these objects could have served as symbols of chiefly authority, group insignia, the heads of ceremonial weapons, or all three. They eventually were placed in elite graves. The bird may be a male curassow and the feline, a jaguar.