The pendant of offering 126 artifact 779 from the Templo Mayor represents a male figure in full body, seated in a lotus position, with his hands placed on his abdomen. This posture, commonly associated with dignitaries and divinities in Mesoamerican art, suggests that the character depicted may represent the deity Quetzalcoatl, the “Feathered Serpent,” or perhaps one of his earthly representatives. The figure is attired with a maxtlatl (a loincloth), a disc-shaped pendant hanging from his neck, and a helmet shaped like a snake’s head adorned with three long quetzal feathers. Petrographic analysis reveals that the pendant is made of jadeite, specifically a jadeitite from the Motagua River valley in Guatemala, the only known Mesoamerican region where such deposits are found. Furthermore, the left eye of the figure contains red pigment, identified as hematite , a common iron oxide mineral found on the Earth’s surface.
#mesoamerica #aztec #jadeite #arthistory #history #mexico #mexica #templomayor #Lemon8