Crouching armadillo-man,

800–1550

This compact sculpture depicts a squatting human. The pattern on the figure’s back and hat, however, suggests the armored shell of an armadillo. The body consists of an oval form covered with an incised diamond pattern interrupted by three horizontal bands at the center. The armadillo’s ability to delve into the earth in search of food, as well as its capacity to hold its breath underwater, may have led the Chiriquí people of this region to associate the creature with human religious or political practitioners who were believed to move between the terrestrial and underworld realms, similar to the belief systems to the north, in Mesoamerica. More than two dozen examples of this type of figure are known, all reported to have come from the northern portion of the Osa Peninsula. These figures are all male and always hold something up to their mouths, perhaps an ocarina, a common type of whistle used throughout ancient Central America.