The Warning

There are several buttons available on the jukebox, as found with the 'option-command' key combination. When you select the eye, this curious little statue comes up. From the treasure trove at Monte Albán’s lavish Tomb 7, this is the Mixtec god of the dead Mictlāntēcutli. 

This medal is an alloy of gold, silver and copper, but has a very high percentage of gold. The gold color is also brought out by the technique of leaching the surface of copper with acid, so the figure appears to be purer gold. The detail work is done with their 'false filigree' technique, where they model and cast the fine loops and lacework, rather than do the expected soldering.

Here you can see the unexpected three dimensional quality of some of the embellishments. This was a medallion awarded to a ball player - did he wear it on the court? There is a rough edge on the far shoulder, and some other rough edges on other sides. But the fine filigree is undisturbed.

Haven't found a picture of the pectoral with a coin or metric cue, but this may represent the size and placement. Haven't found a picture of what the back looks like either.

Some more pictures ... Central America is as fascinated about the Mixtec artifacts as Europe and North America are about Egyptian ones! Below is an annotated figure, but the annotation was in Spanish. I have translated.

1. quetzal feathers

2. jade rosettes

3. emplaced serpent jaws

4. ribbon with frets that spell out nuu, "town"

5. snake heads

6. earmuffs

7. nose ring

8. "buccal mask" - a perforated lower jaw(!) strapped on

9. necklace with beads or bells

10. year 10 wind - you can see the little "donuts" counting up to 10

11. eyes decorated with feathers

12. falling bird

13. chained lightning sign

14. home

15. year sign

16. wind god mask

17. 2 flint (date)

18. year 11 home - more donut counting

The correlated Western date is uncertain, but one source gives an estimate of the 14th century - so the Mixtecs had opened and cleaned out the abandoned Zapotec luxury villa about the same time as the English Angevin rulers had their famous Henrys and Edwards and Richards. 

The provenance of the signs on the figure are all mixed up! - looks like the Mixtecs had their version of constant reorganizations, like a modern company going through all their various fads and acquisitions. Not to mention sex roles - is M. here a male or female - or is Subject A, the big deal person buried in Tomb 7 a boy or a girl? Lots of tabloid considerations here, for a staid archaeological investigation ...

And here is the message that the pectoral medal illustrates. Now Roger tells us!