spegel, skiva

Rund skiva med en diam. av 12-13 cm och en tjocklek på godset av 7 mm. Skivan har två hål förenade med en ränna. Materialet trol. sandsten. Föremål av denna typ är enligt S.K. Lothrop: "Coclé, An Arch. Study of Central Panama", Part I, Camebridge, Mass. 1937, baksidan av
en spegel. Se för typen hans fig. 69 a på sid. 103 "stone mirror backs". Samlaren Dade karakteriserar fyndet som "mirror back, large" och hänvisar till Lothrop. Denna skriver om speglar på sid. 102-104 i cit. arbete --- "A more complicated type consisted of a carefully fitted mosaic of thin pyrite slabs attached by wax or gum to a backing of pottery, stone or wood. This is the usual kind found in Coclé." "Pyrite when exposed to weathering turns into limonite or iron rust. Because of the very damp earth at the Sitio Conte the mosaic reflecting surfaces of the mirrors had completely disintegrated, althrough their former existence was attested to by faint streaks of rust. The backs of mirrors were made of soft stone, such as sandstone, and these usually had disintegrated also." Cocléspeglarna beskrives som i regel cirkulära men några få var fyrkantiga. "Both forms usually had one or more holes drilled in the center, doubtless for attaching a cord handle such as is found on Chinese mirrors. When there is one hole, the cord must have been attached to the mirror by a knot which, owing to the conical form of the hole, could be completely covered by the mosaic. When there are two holes, they are connected by a groove through which a cord could be run beneath the reflecting surface and then knotted on back." Det understreckade i citatet from Lothrop (p. 104) är exakt vad som kan ha gällt detta exmplar.