Pre-Columbian Golden Eagle Pendants from Central America and the Lost-Wax Technique

AmericasCentral AmericaCosta RicaPanamaAll VideosPre-Columbian ArtMesoamericaIsthmo-ColombianSouth America
Written By AQ

Speaker: Dr. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank

Golden objects

This video focuses on pre-Columbian golden pendants from Central America, specifically Costa Rica and Panama, made between about 700 and 1519 in the Isthmo-Colombian region. Objects like this were popular in the larger Chiriquí-Veraguas and Diquís cultural regions, which were bustling hubs for the production of gold objects. We focus on eagle pendants. The video examines why these were popular and explains the lost-wax casting technique.

Eagle pendant, Chiriquí, c. 700–1519 CE, gold. Dumbarton Oaks Museum, Washington, D.C. Photo: © Dr. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank.

Video chapters

0:00 Golden eagle pendants from the Chiriquí-Veraguas and Diquís cultural regions

0:27 Looking closely at the pendants

1:01 Other subject matter

1:33 Costa Rica

1:58 Function

2:30 Lost-wax technique

3:18 Looting and loss of context

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