Finger Ring

1350–1521 CE
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
Finger rings were relatively rare in the ancient Americas. This example was likely made in Oaxaca and then transported to Chichen Itza to be deposited in the Sacred Cenote. The figure, wearing a headdress with three stylized feathered-serpent motifs, may represent an ancestor or deity.



Los anillos fueron relativamente inusuales en América durante la época precolombina. Este fue probablemente fabricado en Oaxaca y luego transportado a Chichen Itzá para ser depositado en el Cenote Sagrado. La figura, que viste un tocado con motivos estilizados de serpientes emplumadas, podría ser el retrato de un ancestro o una deidad.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Finger Ring
  • Date: 1350–1521 CE
  • Geography: Mexico, Oaxaca; Mexico, Yucatan
  • Culture: Mixtec (Ñudzavui)
  • Medium: Copper
  • Dimensions: H. 1 × W. 1 × D. 1 1/8 in. (2.5 × 2.6 × 2.9 cm)
  • Classification: Metalwork-Jewelry
  • Credit Line: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Gift of Charles Peabody, 1910 (10-56-20/C5982)
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing