potsherd
Gallery Location
Not on View
Maker
Marajoara Culture
Medium
Ceramic
Geography
Marajó Island, Brazil
Date
AD 800-1400
Dimensions
10.9 × 8.9 × 14.1 cm
Object number
HL7
Credit Line
Exchange from the American Museum of Natural History
Collection
Department
Art & Culture: Archaeology of the Americas
Description
The people inhabiting the Marajó Island near the mouth of the Amazon River lived in dozens of mounded settlements. Their sophisticated pottery was composed of undulating lines that typically covered the entirety of a vessel. Perhaps the most impressive form in Marajoara pottery was the anthropomorphic jar with appendages attached to the body of the vessel. These vessels may have contained the remains of esteemed ancestors.
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