One of the most interesting and pronounced forms of body adornment for the Mayans has been that of piercing the ears in order to facilitate the insertion of ear spools or flares. Imagery of these and other forms of personal decoration have been recorded in pictorial scenes on a variety of artifacts. The Maya utilized beautiful jadeite stones, gold and ceramics to create some of the most elaborate and magnificent ear spools ever made.

Although it is believed that most adult males and females, if not all of them, wore ear spools the collection that has survived the test of time is small and they are a rare archaeological find. The ones that have been either looted from graves or retrieved archaeologically are similar to ear spools from the Mayan area to the north. The Costa Rican ear spools, however, are ring-shaped and occur as one piece, whereas the Mayan spools often come in two parts that are put through both sides of the ear and connect in the center.

The master craftsmen who made these objects were likely specialists who were enlisted by the rulers of a particular chiefdom to create objects of beauty in order to enhance and advertise the status of the wearer. It is thought that the manufacture of this jewelry type involved shaping pieces of raw material with a solid edge saw and an abrasive material. It is also possible that they could have been created by the cores taken from drilling large pieces of green stone with tubular drill’s, after this was done the objects could be shaped and polished with finer materials. Because jade is such an extremely hard and tough stone, the making of these ear decorations must have taken a lot of expertise and patience. The only surviving ear flares that come down to us are made of jade, gold, shell or ceramic and so have weathered the test of time. It is extremely likely that they were also made of bone and wood.

The only stone worked by Costa Rican lapidaries was jadeite, in turn, the most popular jade form is the Axe-God, which appears to be a half-human, half animal shaman-figure under going a spiritual transformation, perhaps to aid in battle or to ensure rain. These gods are carved into Axe-forms to be hung around the neck of the wearer as an amulet. Jade is also one of the materials that ear spools was made from – perhaps they had spiritual power much like the Axe-God amulets.

Gold, although less abundant than jade, was also a common element in the area. Large, glittering ear spools were made out of this material and the owner of such objects must have commanded supreme attention standing on a high platform with his or her ears stretched impressively wide and fitted with huge gold disks that would shine brightly in the sun. It is known that Mayan kings were thought to be descendants and intermediaries with the Corn God who was also associated with the sun, life and regeneration. Perhaps Costa Rican royalty was similarly related to the sun which in turn was celebrated and advertised by glowing discs worn through the ears.

Many shaman, both male and female, are depicted wearing large jade ear spools and sitting squat-legged, ready for transformation into an animal spirit. This transformation was to ensure that the shaman would be prepared to do battle with evil spirits or to sneak into an enemy camp as a small, unnoticed animal in order to spy on plans of warfare to gain the upper hand.

Perhaps stretching ones earlobes and adorning the holes with jewelry made from sacred materials was a way to invite spirits from the air, water or earth easy access to the head and therefore the brain which was the part of the body most altered by the hallucinogenics used in almost every religious ceremony.

The ear spools of Costa Rican come in a multitude of shapes and sizes. Ceramic ear spools have also been found and are thought to have been for the use of commoners or for everyday adornment and not worn by royalty or used in special religious rituals. However, they are also beautiful in their simplicity and engraved or painted with geometric motifs, perhaps visualized when the artist had taken ayahuasca, a vine with hallucinogenic properties or other similar substances.

Ear flares from Costa Rica are thought to have been symbols of spirituality, visual representations of a stratified society, as well as delicate heirlooms passed down through generations. They were certainly deemed important enough to be buried with their owners perhaps because they were simply loved as beautiful objects, or because of the belief that they would be helpful amulets in the afterlife.

Click the link to view samples of Mayan ear flares HERE.