From northeastern Colombia, Tairona, we come across this 5%-inch pendant in the form of a bat-faced man with a large headdress that served as an amulet or talleman. Through eutting and hammering thin gold sheets, but also by using the lost-wax process, this pendant dating to 1000 CE was cast in the material called q, The peoples of the q, which was divided among many small rival chiefdoms, were expert goldsmiths. The first Europeans to make contact here were astonished to see the natives appearing in public nearly naked but covered in gold jewelry. The legend of EI Dorado, a Colomblan chief who coated himself in gold as part of his accession rites, was largely responsible for the Spanish invaders' ruthless plunder of the region.
