Yesterday, the Carabinieri transferred two valuable Mesoamerican archeological findings to the Museum of Civilizations in Rome after seizing them while receiving stolen goods. The first is a double-figure gold necklace from Panama's Grand Coclé culture (650-1520 AD), portraying two warriors wearing war emblems and throwing a dart. The item is most likely part of the burial goods of a high-ranking individual, such as a chief, priest, or shaman. The second is a clay figurine from the Nayarit culture in northwestern Mexico (100 BC - 300 AD), which was also part of a burial trousseau. It is formed of reddish clay pottery with oxidizing fire, creamy white engobes, and red paint. It shows a kneeling female figure with her upper limbs (the right one is missing) sketched and leaning forward. The figure is ornamented with a necklace made up of numerous twists of circular red beads and a half moon-shaped nose decoration.
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