Turtler Gnarley Dude!
Glazed Ceramic: 19"L x 15"W x 12"H
For a brief period, on and off between courses in Art history and Anthropology, I took great interest in the artifactual record left behind by the ancient Mayans. As one of the great American civilizations to leave behind a written record, the Mayan alphabet has some aesthetic qualities similar to Egyptian heiroglyphics. These include the pictoral representations of animals, plants, and people. The Mayans also incorporated these "glyphs" into the architectural elements such as reliefs. Round organic shapes are a dominant feature of the code signs and other 2-dimensional representations. The preceding civilization, the Olmecs, may have influenced the design of linguistic markers with the megalithic sculptures of stylized head figures. They look like eggs or nuggets, its value contained within a set parameter. But there are hundreds of glyphs like these and each of them are different. I wish our coinage would look more like these guys, I would collect them.
So here is my tribute to a lost civilization. The head of a sea turtle. I will admit, I have eaten turtle before, I was in Chuuk, it was bbq'd, it was delicious. My father had a couple of sea turtle shells in his house. I know many people who own jewelry made out of turtle shells. Although capturing and eating sea turtles are forbidden in many places, we keep all these artifacts of these animals who helped nourish many. Many islanders who have bracelets, combs, and plates made of turtle shells have been passed down through generations after environmental protections. Perhaps these policies have made these heirlooms even more valuable and sentimental. I heard somewhere (don't ask me where, but please ask someone who might know) that when you kill a sea turtle, when they cry out loud, they sound like humans.
Glazed Ceramic: 19"L x 15"W x 12"H
Sea turtles are awesome. Greens, hawksbills, etc. They are like the diving dragons of the Galapagos, natures resilient inhabitants living such a rare life in long journeys, solitude at times, and sometimes live longer than the average human being. They are like diamonds in the rough. A sign of good luck for many who encounter them on ocean voyages. Perhaps thats why they have been driven near unsustainable levels, because their power has been coveted carelessly.
Maybe, the wealth of islands can be measured by how many of these guys can be given safe harbor in the lagoons, beaches, and waterways that surround us.