Archaeologists in Mexico are studying a collection of pre-Hispanic shell pendants that could provide new insights into ancient Maya trade networks, ritual practices and technological knowledge.
The 14 zoomorphic pendants were recovered from funerary contexts during archaeological salvage work associated with sections 2, 3 and 4 of the Maya Train Project in the states of Campeche and Yucatán.
Dating to the Late Classic period (AD 650–900), the objects depict anurans – the biological group that includes frogs and toads – and were carved from shell.
According to Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), analysis of the artefacts could help researchers reconstruct the distribution and movement of raw materials across south-eastern Mexico, while also providing evidence for the habitats of the species represented and their symbolic importance to Maya communities.
“Pieces, just a few centimetres in size, can provide information about trade routes, technical knowledge, and how ancient Mayan communities understood their relationship with nature,” said Mexico’s Secretary of Culture, Claudia Curiel de Icaza.
“Therein lies the value of archaeological research: the heritage we preserve is also a source of knowledge that expands what we know about our history.”
Pendants recovered from Maya archaeological sites
The artefacts were recovered during archaeological salvage excavations conducted by INAH in July 2024 and come from the sites of Sacamuy, Dzitbalché, Xiol, Kimbilá and Kanab.
María Elodia Acevedo Chin, an archaeologist with the Maya Train Project’s Zooarchaeology Laboratory, said the assemblage could contribute to a broader understanding of communities living in the Maya region during the Late Classic period.
Each pendant measures between 2 and 4 centimetres and was fashioned from shell before being polished. Researchers identified a grooved-incised decorative technique, while all 14 examples lack detailed representations of the limbs and feature two conical perforations near the cloacal area.
Analysis has also revealed two different treatments of the animals’ heads. One variant features circular rotary abrasion representing the eyes and an incised line forming the mouth, while the second uses circular abrasion only to depict the eyes.
Researchers believe the manner in which the animals are represented may itself carry symbolic meaning.
The pendants depict the anurans upside down, a position that researchers have compared with an image on folio 17 of the Madrid Codex, where similar imagery is associated with falling rain.
Frogs linked to rain and rebirth
Frogs and toads occupied an important place within the Maya worldview because of their close association with water and seasonal rainfall.
According to Acevedo Chin, anurans were regarded as water deities and messengers of rain, while also being connected with the underworld and concepts of rebirth.
Their biological behaviour contributed to their inclusion in fertility rituals, agricultural ceremonies and sacrificial practices.
“These objects not only had aesthetic value, but also embodied the sacred link between human beings, nature and the spiritual world,” Acevedo Chin said.
The material from which the pendants were manufactured may have carried similar symbolic significance.
Shells were closely associated with water, an essential resource for survival, and were consequently incorporated into the religious ideology of ancient Mesoamerican societies. Shell ornaments could also function as indicators of social status and were frequently used in ritual contexts.
Across Mesoamerica, shells and marine snails were worked into bracelets, pectorals, armbands, ear ornaments, rings and pendants, as well as being used to manufacture musical instruments.
Possible offerings in child burials
Researchers have yet to establish whether the 14 pendants were associated specifically with adult or infant burials.
However, one hypothesis proposes that they were deposited as funerary offerings accompanying children, as comparable zoomorphic shell objects have previously been identified in infant burials elsewhere in the region.
Further analysis of the assemblage could also help establish where the shells originated and how the raw materials moved between communities.
This could provide evidence for exchange networks connecting settlements across the Maya region and potentially reveal the distances travelled by materials before they were transformed into ritual or personal objects.
The pendants form part of a wider and highly diverse collection of molluscan material recovered from different archaeological contexts along the Maya Train route. The assemblage is currently housed at the Zooarchaeology Laboratory in Chetumal, Quintana Roo.
“This finding invites us to re-evaluate the exchange networks and the worldview of the communities that inhabited the region, leaving the door open for new analyses that add to the knowledge about the presence of zoomorphic pendants, particularly those of anurans, in this area,” Acevedo Chin said.
Researchers also hope future ethnographic studies could investigate the persistence of similar symbolism among communities in the region, potentially identifying connections between archaeological evidence and traditions that have survived into more recent periods.
Sources : INAH