Gold (Tumbaga) and Butterfly Symbolism

Summary

When metals were introduced in Mesoamerica ca. AD 850 they were used with both utilitarian and decorative purposes. Copper artifacts were turned into fishing hooks, tweezers, or axes. However, silver and gold were mostly used in jewelry production. Several deities were fashioned in gold as well as animals associated with gods. They included pendants, nose-rings, necklaces, etc. Warriors were also depicted as pendants, and there are examples in discs too. The context where the objects have been found is particularly important. There are good examples of butterflies made to represent fertility goddesses and there are representations of warriors wearing pectorals in the shape of butterflies. This paper will focus on the symbolic importance of butterflies in warfare as well as in agriculture.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Butterflies Take Wing: Ritual and Symbolism in Precolumbian Mesoamerica   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15892