Jade square bead or pendant / Mesoamerican; Mayan

Essay/Description

Square stone bead or pendant, which is hollowed out and surrounded by various designs.

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Anthropology Item Information

©Gilcrease Museum

Title(s):

Jade square bead or pendant

Culture:

Mesoamerican; Mayan

Date:

Unknown

Period:

Mesoamerican Prehistoric

Place:

México

Materials/Techniques:

jade

Dimensions:

Overall: 1 1/16 in. (2.7 cm)

Classification:

Archaeological Objects

Object Type:

Pendant

Accession No:

61.8591

Department:

Anthropology

Collection:

Kravis Discovery Center

Not On View

Tags and Search Terms

Tags:

adornment, Art, Ceremonial, jewelry, Kravis Discovery Center, Mesoamerica, Mesoamerican, Mexican, México, Precolumbian, Pre-Columbian

The Maya greatly valued jade and wore it as a symbol of wealth and fertility. Typically only the wealthiest people, particularly kings, wore and were buried wearing jade. Jade’s color “was associated with the Maize God and evoked his eternal youth and vigor” (Meisler 2004).

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Cite this Page

Jade square bead or pendant. 61.8591. Kravis Discovery Center. Unknown. Tulsa: Gilcrease Museum, https://collections.gilcrease.org/object/618591 (06/08/2017).

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