**First Time At Auction**

Pre-Columbian, Southern Mexico, Guerrero region, Mezcala culture, ca. 600 to 100 BCE; Southern Mexico to Guatemala, Maya, Early to Late Classic Period, ca. 250 to 900 CE. A collection of ancient shell beads, greenstone, and a single omphacite jade bead, strung together as a wearable necklace. The central pendant is a large greenstone earspool that would have once been worn by an elite person in Maya society. The Maya believed that ears were the conduits for spiritual energy, and so ear ornaments like the spool took on significant meaning. Some scholars have argued that the stretching of earlobes - done progressively through spool sizes to limit tearing and pain - this may have been a rite of passage from childhood to adulthood! Size of strand doubled: 22" L (55.9 cm); earspool: 2" Diameter (5.1 cm)

Provenance: private New Mexico, USA collection

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#176119

Beads are ancient with nicks and chips commensurate with age. Chips to rim of earspool, otherwise intact and very good. Strung in modern times on a modern thread and wearable. .