This unique type of carved stone metate was the
most important ritual object of its time in Costa
Rica. It served as a very special burial object for
wealthy, high status members of society. In
everyday life the metate as a utilitarian grinding
stone had the power to transform seeds and
kernels into flour. When placed in the tomb, the
metate symbolized for the deceased the
assurance of another type of transformational
rebirth, the beginning of a new life. This
particular metate, carved in the stylized shape of
a jaguar, displays still another symbol of
extreme importance. To the Ancient Costa
Ricans the jaguar was regarded as the most
powerful animal in the world, to be honored and
revered it even had certain divine characteristics.
In mythology, the most important God, Maira,
became the sun during the day, making the
great journey from east to west across the lands.
At night, however, Maira assumed the form of a
jaguar and stealthily made his way from the west
back to the east, where in the morning he would
rise again in the form of the sun. These two
commanding attributes of transformation and
power are artistically portrayed in this
monumental metate. The sweeping upward
curve of the rectangular plate which serves as the
jaguars body, the large and powerfully extended
neck and head with exquisitely sculpted
openwork carving, the sculpted face with its
ferocious visage, all combine to give a potent
presence that truly befits this exalted creature.
The reverence with which this piece was afforded
in antiquity clearly extends into the present as
we experience its indomitable spirit and energy.
- (PF.2624)
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