Tikal Burial 196 Tomb of the Jade Jaguar - Maya Archaeology

Cut Pieces of Nacreous Shell Plan #68 117A-73 Fig.
198
Twelve small rectangular pieces of nacreous shell, un-
even in shape, were found in the aisle next to the platform.
From their position it appears that they were originally situated
on the platform and fell into the aisle when the tomb
collapsed.
Nacreous Shell Pendant Plan #56 117A-80 a, b Fig.
According to field notes the pieces of this offering
were on top of one another next to one of the pyrite plaques.
As two of the other three plaques had pearl plaques associated
with them there may be some relation between plaques and
shells.
The pendant consists of two cup-shaped pendants cut
from nacreous shell but the cataloger thought that one of the
pieces could have been made from half of a large tear shaped
pearl. Piece #a is complete with a single hole at the upper
end. The second piece is fragmentary and only partially reconstructable.
Perplexingly, not all the pieces fit together,
indicating that there may have been an appendage of some
sort.
Shell Pendant Plan #66 117A-81 a, b
Similar to the pendant described above was another
pendant which could have been cut from either a pearl or a
shell. It lay under one of the large earplug flares that had
belonged to the headdress.