Bell 500–1520 Greater Nicoya, Central Region (Costa Rica), Greater Chiriquí, or Greater Coclé This pear-shaped bell, made by lost-wax casting, has a finial that consists of a suspension loop, which is mm high. Unlike two other bells in the collection, and , whose suspension loops appear to have been fabricated using two threads of wax each, the loop of the present example was made with only one thread of wax. The loop in this case was polished on its top, likely in the location of a sprue, a channel that would have facilitated the movement of molten metal into the

Bell 500–1520 Greater Nicoya, Central Region (Costa Rica), Greater Chiriquí, or Greater Coclé This pear-shaped bell, made by lost-wax casting, has a finial that consists of a suspension loop, which is mm high. Unlike two other bells in the collection, and , whose suspension loops appear to have been fabricated using two threads of wax each, the loop of the present example was made with only one thread of wax. The loop in this case was polished on its top, likely in the location of a sprue, a channel that would have facilitated the movement of molten metal into the ceramic mold. This sprue would have solidified as metal and, to remove traces of its presence, a founder would have cut it off and then abraded and polished the area. The casting technique is further confirmed by the local porosity at and dendritic appearance of the base of the finial. There is one band of metal that demarcates the top of the resonator, which is polished and retains scratches. Porosity is also seen in regions like the corner between the top band and the resonator’s body that would have been more difficult to reach in polishing operations; indeed the polishing would have closed these pores. The resonator contains a metal clapper that has a dull golden color, and this clapper was likely cast in place; there are no traces of deformation in the area of the resonator opening that would suggest the metal was worked in order to insert the clapper into the resonator. The resonator opening is highly symmetric with edges that curve inward and are relatively clean (cf. MMA ). The width of the resonator, in the direction that includes the resonator opening, is mm, and the perpendicular width is mm. At the top of the resonator opening, the thickness of the bell’s walls is mm. Metal bells have been recovered from a range of Central American and Colombian contexts but are more typical of the International Group of metals, dating typically to afte

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