POPULAR SEARCHES:   rings  tanzanite  necklaces  diamond  cut stones  bracelets  
 
This chapter is tagged (labeled) with:  Gemstones,  History,  Medicine,  Amulet,  Talisman,  English

Ch. 3: Talismanic Use of Special Stones

Ch. 3: Talismanic Use of Special Stones Page of 467 Ch. 3: Talismanic Use of Special Stones Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
TALISMANIC USE OF PRECIOUS STONES 113
dant evidence in the special care bestowed upon the burial that the deceased must have been a man of high rank, and the condition of the skull plainly indicated that he had met a violent death. The 1980 beads found on the breast of the skeleton are believed to have been strung as a necklace, and the position of other masses of these beads renders it probable that they had been used for bracelets or anklets, the strings having de­cayed and disappeared in the course of time. The most interesting of the turquoise objects are, however, the pendants worked into various forms designed to favor the entrance of some guardian spirit into the stone. In this single burial were found pendants shaped more or less roughly into the forms of a rabbit, a bird, an insect (?), a human foot and a shoe. Around another burial in the same chamber were strewn nearly six thousand turquoise beads and pendants.130 In all 24,932 beads were found in these burials.
Another very interesting object from Pueblo Bonito, and one having probably a special ceremonial use and value, is a turquoise basket,—that is to say, a cylindrical basket three inches in diameter and six inches long, orig­inally made of slender splints with a coating of gum in which 1214 small pieces of turquoise have been set. These are very closely set and form a complete mosaic covering for the object. The legends of the Navahos contain allu­sions to "turquoise jewel baskets," and Mr. Pepper raises the question whether or no this can refer to those made by the Pueblo Indians.131
The Apache name for the turquoise is duklij, which
""Pepper, " The Exploration of a Burial-room in Pueblo Bonito, New Mexico," pp. 223, 224.
m Pepper, 1. c, p. 227. 8
Ch. 3: Talismanic Use of Special Stones Page of 467 Ch. 3: Talismanic Use of Special Stones
Suggested Illustrations
Other Chapters you may find useful
bullet Tag
This Page