Taino Sun Necklace: Caribbean Petroglyph Art

Prehistoric ceramic pendants created from high-fire clay in which ancient Taino stone petroglyph reproductions are carved for the sun, one of many solar symbols found on the island of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean.

The pendants roughly measure 1-1/2" in diameter (34mm) by 4mm thick and are threaded onto satin cords.

The Taínos, whose name literally translates to "good people", were the seafaring people indigenous to the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The Taínos were considered one of the Arawak peoples of South America, and their language was a member of the Arawakan language family in the northern areas of South America. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of Cuba, Trinidad, Jamaica, Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), and Puerto Rico. When Christopher Columbus arrived to the New World in 1492, he became one of the first (and only) outsiders to witness the Taíno culture.