Description:
Green-blue stone pendant carved into the form of a supernatural hybrid being of jaguar and crocodile with parts of the body covered with embossed gold sheets. For its suspension it has two perforations in its rear part: one that traverses the two front claws and the other, perpendicular to it, located between the two. Conte style.
The figure is composed of a crocodile body in the dorsal view and a jaguar head in the frontal view. The crocodile body is in a crouching position with the thick tail slightly raised. Incised on the back are two bands of six diamonds with a central point, delimited by two parallel lines. This is a geometric simplification of the dermal plates and the two dorsal crests that characterise the crocodile in the style. The end of the tail is covered by a gold plate embossed with ten elements in comma form that in the style generally mark fur or plumage, which would be more appropriate for a feline. The four five-finger claws are also covered by thin embossed gold sheets. The jaguar´s head is large, with a not very prominent snout, and wide ears with rounded margins. The nose is wide and flat. The eyes, large, round and with a marked iris, extend over the face in the form of an inverted tear, a frequent feature in crocodile representations, but in general it is a marker of supernaturality in the style. The threatening mouth shows two rows of teeth, squared and without fangs. The ears, the mouth and the round part of the eyes are covered with embossed gold sheets. In the last two features, the covering also does not correspond exactly to what is carved in the stone; the teeth are less square, some are sharpened; and the iris, which in stone is marked with a depression, in gold is made with a hemisphere pointing outwards. It must be noted that although this supernatural hybrid being is basically represented by the body of a crocodile and the head of a jaguar, the covering of the crocodile´s tail has a feline element, and the jaguar has a carved extension of the eyes that is more typical of crocodiles. This helps to emphasize that both form a single being.
MG
This pendant appeared along with a set of flutes, a rattle, and a gold belt in the SE corner of tomb T2. Just at the other end (in front, to the NE) of the large grave, a second offering deposit (UE135) was found. Here, a set of copper plates, a gold pectoral (registration number 9570), and a set of sperm whale tooth pendants with designs of felines with crocodile bodies and tails very similar to this but of a different material, were found.
JM
