gems, jade, Mesoamerica, early art, Maya, Olmec, Aztec, Mexico, Guatemala,

We describe a notable artifact discovered during our 2015 excavations at the Maya site of Nim Li Punit, Belize. It is a jade pendant shaped like an Ik’ that was worn on the chest of ancient Maya kings during copal-scattering events conducted as part of calendrical rituals. The pectoral is one of the largest jades legally excavated in the Maya world. The reverse contains a historical text of 30 glyphs. Had the artifact been recovered illegally and entered a private collection, much of the text would have made little sense and the pectoral could not have been attributed to Nim Li Punit. The priceless value of the Nim Li Punit pectoral, therefore, lies not only in its inscription, but also in its archaeological context and the contemporary carved images of it on the stelae of Nim Li Punit. We describe the excavations of the tomb in which the pectoral was found and present a translation of its text.