Ornament from Sitio Conte: Small Plaque
Unknown Artist
c. 400–500
Medium
hammered gold
Dimensions
9.3 × 10 cm
Classification
Metalwork
Department
Art of the Americas
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
The Norweb Collection
Accession Number
1951.155
About this artwork
Harvard archaeologists excavated this ornament from Grave 32 at Sitio Conte, a cemetery famous for its lavish graves of powerful chieftains. The warm gleam of gold linked rulers with the sun’s creative force.