The Pre-Columbian Gold Museum ( es, Museo del Oro Precolombino, officially es, Museo de Oro Precolombino Álvaro Vargas Echeverría) is a museum in

San José, Costa Rica San José (; meaning "Saint Joseph") is the capital and largest city of Costa Rica, and the capital of the province of the same name. It is in the center of the country, in the mid-west of the Central Valley, within San José Canton. San ...

. It is located in a subterranean building underneath the "Plaza de la Cultura" and is owned and curated by the

Banco Central de Costa Rica The Central Bank of Costa Rica ( es, Banco Central de Costa Rica) is the central bank of Costa Rica. Scope In pursuit of its mission, and to maintain the economy’s internal and external balance, the goals and operating objectives of the Central ...

. The museum has an archaeological collection of 3,567

Pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...

artifacts made up of 1,922

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

pieces, 1,586

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

objects, 46 stone objects, 4

jade Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...

, and 9 glass or bead objects. The gold collection dates from 300 to 400 BC to 1550 AD. The collection includes animal (notably frogs, eagles, jaguars, alligators, deers) figurines, amulets, earrings, erotic statuettes and several

diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle mode ...

s including ''El Guerrero'', a life sized gold warrior figure adorned with gold ornaments in a glass case and a detailed scale model of a Pre-Columbian village. There is also a replica of a pre-Columbian grave containing 88 gold objects which was unearthed on a banana plantation in southeastern Costa Rica in the 1950s. In Costa Rican history, gold was considered a symbol of authority and the items are testament to the craftmanship of the Pre-Columbian period. The Museo Numismático (National Coin Museum) is also located in the same building on the ground level and features displays dating back to 1236, including coins, banknotes and unofficial items such as coffee tokens. The "Casa de Moneda" is also located on the ground level with information on the history of minting in Costa Rica and displays illustrating its development. The collection includes Costa Rica's first coin, the ''Media Escudo'' which was minted in 1825.

Gallery

File:Figures at the Pre-Columbian Gold Museum in San José, Costa Rica.jpg, Gold figures, musician and dancer File:Diquis gold necklace.jpg, Gold necklace File:Cangrejo Museo del Oro Precolombino CRI 07 2019 9260.jpg, Gold crab File:Gold scorpio.jpg, Gold lobsters File:Maya gold design.jpg, Gold barrette File:Rana Museo del Oro Precolombino CRI 07 2019 9261.jpg, Gold frog File:Lagarto con cara de felino Museo del Oro Precolombino CRI 07 2019 9265.jpg, Gold alligator with feline face File:Aguila Museo del Oro Precolombino CRI 07 2019 9266.jpg, Gold

harpy eagle The harpy eagle (''Harpia harpyja'') is a neotropical species of eagle. It is also called the American harpy eagle to distinguish it from the Papuan eagle, which is sometimes known as the New Guinea harpy eagle or Papuan harpy eagle. It is the ...

File:Venado con maiz Museo del Oro Precolombino CRI 07 2019 9257.jpg, Gold deer eating corn File:Chaman Museo del Oro Precolombino CRI 07 2019 9271.jpg, Gold figure of a Shaman File:Dios Sibu Museo del Oro Precolombino CRI 07 2019 9276.jpg, Gold figure of Sibu god File:Museo de Oro BCCR CRI 07 2019 9147.jpg,

Diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle mode ...

of a pre-Columbian village

Gallery

See also