Gold Helmet from Panama in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 2018

Helmet

Date: A.D. 700–900

Geography: Panama

Culture: Coclé

Medium: Gold

Dimensions: H. 3 3/4 × W. 8 1/4 × D. 8 1/4 in. (9.5 × 21 × 21 cm)

Classification: Metalwork-Ornaments

Credit Line: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Peabody Museum Expedition, 1931 (31-36-20/C13366)


The complex repoussé (raised relief) design on this helmet features three double-headed crocodilians with anthropomorphic bodies, reptilian claws, long jaws with upturned snouts, and crests. The thirty-six holes around the rim may have been used to attach dangling ornaments or feather inserts. The armband has mirror images of crocodilians with birds perched on or above their tails. The helmet and armband (one of a pair) were found among numerous ornaments in the tomb of an elderly male, one of the richest burials at Sitio Conte.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/722183