Stylized Figure Pendant, 5th–7th century Panama; International Style Gold

metropolitan museum of art ^ | 1977 | Alice K. Bache

[muawiyah]

Cast in gold over a core, this stylized anthropomorphic figure fluidly integrates human and animal traits. A realistic human face capped by a sweeping headdress extends forward from the abstract body. The generalized depictions of crouching legs, outspread wings, and notched fishtail may connote earth, sky, and sea. The pendant is part of a group of ornaments of uniform style and technology. Both the puzzling combination of elements from different creatures and the superbly finished surfaces set the pendants in the group apart from other Central American goldwork. The group is widely distributed—they are known from Colombia in the south to the Yucatán Peninsula in the north—which has led to their "International Style" designation

[muawiyah]

This dude looks like Obama!

The museum claims he's representative of everything ~ earth, sky and sea!

Then there are the PUZZLING COMBINATION of different creatures.

This figure is everything of every time to everybody all the time!

I call it Campaign Mode

[mamelukesabre]

I’m confused. 7th century panamanians were negroid?

[ApplegateRanch]

[ArrogantBustard]

Looks like he has bananas on his shoulders. Reminds me of the Japanese banana guy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpqxSBclqWs&feature=player_embedded

[muawiyah]

Were they? Who knows but there it is ~ a 7th century Obama pendent from Panama!

[muawiyah]

Definitely a strong resemblence.

[ApplegateRanch]

♫"May the Yellow Banana♪♫♪ of Nutrition Fly Out Your Nose"♫?

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Oh the MET! I was there a couple of months ago and would love to go back!

[ArrogantBustard]

Only in Japan.

[SunkenCiv]

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[Alas Babylon!]

Millionaires and Billionaires! Holders of international style gold!

[mamelukesabre]

However, not entirely negroid...they have european protruding brow ridges and east asian almond eyes. Is there a line on the jaw representing a beard line??

What race is that?

[mamelukesabre]

only one race comes to mind...

japanese hokaido people

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

Then again, it might just have been the work of a stunning craftsman, pulling artistic ideas out of his own mind,,,,,,,,,,

[muawiyah]

All it takes is a good tsunami and you can sweep up people who could possibly survive on the debris field as it took a year to cross the Pacific ~ and these things do come ashore anywhere from Alaska to Oregon to Baja CA to Central America to Chile.

So, Ainu could get to the Isthmus that way, but so could the far more numerous, and still extant, plain old Chinese type Japanese found along the costs of El Salvador and Costa Rica.

Odds are good that all the West Coast native groups are overwhelmingly of Japanese origin.

However, trust me, I know an enormous number of Japanese and this dude is definitely Africanized ~ just like Obama. Doesn't mean the artist who made the amulets wasn't of Japanese origin, but it's not a self-portrait.

[mamelukesabre]

yeah yeah yeah

but back then, the ainu were the dominant people percentage wise.

side note: why does the word “ainu” mean dog in modern japanese?