Artifacts

The gold bosses, flattened by ground pressure, have raised rims and one or two small perforations. Specimens of imperforate disks with embossed solar symbols, in the Heye Foundation collections, are also attributed to Colima.

Two possible earring sets (one of old, one of silver) from El Chanal, plus another thought to be from Coalcomán (in Michoacán, near the Colima border) are composed of arbitrarily combined geometric units, each bounded by a raised rim. Although their size and form suggest they could be worn as earrings, at least the silver set from El Chanal was not worn by the corpse at the time of interment. No contextual data are available regarding the other set. The three sets of earrings are in the form of the symbol associated with the fire serpent, an important figure in the native pantheon of gods of central Mexico and Oaxaca; accordingly they provide a significant link between Colima and the two areas just mentioned. There are Colima-Oaxaca resemblances in other metal artifacts as well. “Solar” disks and elaborately embossed, “L”-shaped ornaments with a serpent motif are noted for the two areas although there is some question regarding their provenience.