INDIAN NOTES AND MONOGRAPHS VOL. VI No. 4 A SERIES OF PUBLICA- TIONS RELATING TO THE AMERICAN ABORIGINES AN IMAGE AND AN AMULET OF NEPHRITE FROM COSTA RICA BY ALANSON SKINNER NEW YORK MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN HEYE FOUNDATION 1920 Publications of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation THE GEORGE G. HEYE EXPEDITION CONTRIBUTIONS TO SOUTH AMER- ICAN ARCHAEOLOGY Vol. 1 The Antiquities of Manabi, Ecuador: A Pre- liminary Report. By Marshall H. Saville. 1907. $25.00. Vol.2 The Antiquities of Manabi, Ecuador: Final Report. By Marshall H. Saville. 1910. $25.00. CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN, HEYE FOUNDATION Vol. 1 No. 1: Lucayan Artifacts from the Bahamas. By Theodoor de Booy. Reprinted from Amer. Anthropol., Vol. 15, 1913, No. 1. 50c. No. 2 : Precolumbian Decoration of the Teeth in Ecuador, with some Account of the Oc- currence of the Custom in other parts of North and South America. By Marshall H. Saville. Reprinted from Amer. Anthropol., Vol. 15, 1913, No. 3. 50c. No. 3: Certain Kitchen-middens in Jamaica. By Theodoor de Booy. Reprinted from Amer. Anthropol., Vol. 15, 1913," No. 3. (Re-- printed, 1919.) 50c. No. 4: Porto Rican Elbow-stones in the Heye Museum, with discussion of similar objects elsewhere. By J. Walter Fewkes. Reprinted from Amer Anthropol., Vol. 15, 1913, No. 3. 50c. INDIAN NOTES AND MONOGRAPHS VOL. VI No. 4 A SERIES OF PUBLICA- TIONS RELATING TO THE AMERICAN ABORIGINES AN IMAGE AND AN AMULET OF NEPHRITE FROM COSTA RICA BY ALANSON SKINNER NEW YORK MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN HEYE FOUNDATION 1920 This series of Indian Notes and Mono- graphs is devoted primarily to the publica- tion of the results of studies by members of the staff of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, and is uniform with Hispanic Notes and Monographs, published by the Hispanic Society of America, with which organization this Museum is in cordial cooperation. AN IMAGE AND AN AMU- LET OF NEPHRITE FROM COSTA RICA BY ALANSON SKINNER SKINNER— NEPHRITE PL. I ft ; 1 pjiJfoffi'n iiiTiC'^iiift^M NEPHRITE IMAGE AN IMAGE AND AN AMULET OF NEPHRITE FROM COSTA RICA By Alanson Skinner I N AN unmarked grave at Las Mer- cedes, Costa Rica, a nephrite im- age (pi. i) was unearthed by the Costa Rican expedition of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, in 1916-17. It is 3| inches in height, and represents a person with hands folded on the abdomen, a posture not un- commonly represented in the larger stone idols of the district. The figure wears a headdress which on close examination appears to be composed of two outward-facing jaguar heads. Facial painting or tattooing appears in conven- tional scroll designs on the cheeks, upper chest, and arms. The figurine seems to have been intended 111 INDIAN NOTES VI 112 COSTA RICA for use as an amulet or a pendant, as an attempt has been made to perforate it longitudinally, boring in from the head and feet. The maker failed in his effort, how- ever, since the two holes have not been bored far enough to connect. The separa- tion of the arms from the trunk, and the space between the legs, have also been effected by means of boring a series of parallel and connecting holes, which have been so run together as to make the cuttings still plainly show the borings, and the gap between the feet has cut into one side of the longitudinal tunnel meant to receive the suspending string. The figure is unique among Costa Rican nephrite objects, and no doubt was highly prized by its native owner. Ramon, the "king" of the Bribri of the Talamanca valley, once showed the writer some long cylindrical stone beads which he explained the natives valued at a cow apiece. Gold ornaments, he averred, were less costly, since they were relatively easy to make, but these stone beads were far more difficult to manufacture, especially to perforate. VI INDIAN NOTES 3 < a: x Q. UJ - i z z IMAGE AND AMULET 113 The nephrite amulet illustrated (pi. n) is one of thousands of specimens taken from the necropolis of Las Mercedes by the Museum's expedition of 1916-17. It is carved in a lacy pattern showing several highly conventionalized figures, some of which may possibly represent parrots. The specimen is 1 J inch high, by If inch broad. The work is unusually well done, even for Costa Rica, and the polished light sea-green of the nephrite lends a charming effect. The form seems to be unique, and the object surpasses ' in beauty any of the nephrite amulets in the collection of the National Museum at San Jose, Costa Rica. AND MONOGRAPHS '-£/- No. 5: Note on the Archaeology of Chiriqui. By George Grant MacCurdy. Reprinted from Amer. Anlhropol., Vol. 15, 1913, No. 4. 50c. No. 6: Petroglyphs of Saint Vincent, British West Indies. By Thomas Huckerby. Re- printed from Amer. Anlhropol., Vol. 16, 1914. No. 2. 50c. No. 7: Prehistoric Objects from a Shell-heap at Erin Bay, Trinidad. By J. Walter Fewkes. Reprinted from Amer. Anlhropol., Vol. 16, 1914, No. 2. 50c. No. 8 : Relations of Aboriginal Culture and En- vironment in the Lesser Antilles. By J. Walter Fewkes. Reprinted from Bull. Amer. Geogr. Soc, Vol. 46, 1914, No. 9, 50c. No. 9: Pottery from Certain Caves in Eastern Santo Domingo, West Indies. By Theodoor de Boov. Reprinted from Amer. Anlhropol., Vol. 17', 1915, No. 1. 50c. Vol.2 No. 1 : Exploration of a Munsee Cemetery near Montague, New Jersey. By George G. Heye and George H. Pepper. 1915. $1.00. No. 2 : Engraved Celts from the Antilles. By J. Walter Fewkes. 1915. 50c. No. 3 : Certain West Indian Superstitions Fer- taining to Celts. By Theodoor de Booy. Reprinted from Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore, Vol. 28, No. 107, 1915. 50c. No. 4: The Na.nticoke Community of Dela- ware. By Frank G. Speck. 1915. $1.00. No. 5: Notes on the Archeology of Margarita Island, Venezuela. By Theodoor de Booy. 1916. 50c. No. 6 : Monolithic Axes and their Distribution in Ancient America. By Marshall H. Saville. 1916. 50c. Vol. 3 Physical Anthropology of the Lenape or Dela- wares, and of the Eastern Indians in Gen- eral. By Ales Hrdlicka. (Bur. of Amer. Ethnol., Bull. 62, 1916, with added title-page and cover.) $1.00. Vol. 4 No. 1 : The Technique of Porcupine-Quill Dec- oration among the North American Indians. By William C. Orchard. 1916. $1.00. No. 2: Certain Archeological Investigations in Trinidad, British West Indies. By Theo- door de Booy. Reprinted from Amer. An- thropol., Vol. 19, 1917, No. 4. 50c. No. 3: The Nacoochee Mound in Georgia. By George G. Heye, F. W. Hodge, and George H. Pepper. 1918. $1.50. Vol.5 No. 1 : A Letter of Pedro de Alvarado Relating to his Expedition to Ecuador [15341. By Marshall H. Saville. 1917. 50c. No. 2 : The Dieguefio Ceremony of the Death- Images. ByE. H.Davis. 1919. 50c. No. 3: Certain Mounds in Haywood County, North Carolina. By George *G. Heye. Re- . printed from Holmes Anniversary Volume. 1916. 1919. 50c. No. 4: Exploration of Aboriginal Sites at Throgs Neck and Clasons Point, New York City. By Alanson Skinner. 1919. $1.00. Address : Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, Broadway at 155th St., New York City