Stone Celt

Unknown

before 16th century · Stone · Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

This greenstone axe blade is encrusted with remnants of sea growths, suggesting it spent a considerable amount of time in a marine environment. The most numerous category of polished stone sculpture emerging from the Taíno world of the ancestral Caribbean islands are ceremonial axes and blades, which take many forms and may have been an important medium of exchange. Axes feature abstract zoomorphic forms in stone, or consisted of wooden handles with stone blades hafted to them. Stone axe handle-shaped figures may have been ceremonial scepters. Ceremonial blades made of different types of greenstone, both local and imported, have been recovered in large numbers. These axes, known as petaloid celts for their resemblance to flower petals, could have served as dedicatory offerings, which have a long history on the Caribbean mainland in Mesoamerica.

Artist

Unknown

Date

before 16th century

Medium

Stone

Culture

Costa Rica

Department

Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Credit line

Bequest of Arthur M. Bullowa, 1993