Maya Aventurine Square Trumpet Style Ear Flares

Material: Aventurine
Culture: Maya
Location: Yucatan, Mexico
Period: Late Pre-Classic to Early Classic Maya (300 BCE to 200 AD)
Size: 41mm x 44mm x 22mm (height & width of face & wearing size)
Weight: 30g (average)

Vibrant, very high quality green aventurine (green quartz variant) hollow ear flares with an irregular, rounded square shape. The material is translucent in the edges, and also displays swirling of pyrite around the exterior, particularly along the rear wearing surface. The rear of the pieces feature biconically drilled holes, which are common on ear flares of this culture and time period. The holes were used for securing hanging beads, feathers, fiber or other items and were also sometimes drilled into pieces later as a way to hang flares from other jewelry ensembles.

The color green, attributed to life, the rains, and the growth of maize, was very culturally important to the Maya, and stones such as jade and aventurine exhibiting vibrant green colors were held in high regard.