This mysterious scepter originally made of shell material, namely Aligen Gigus (queen conch), was thought to have been used by Amerindian shamans in ritualistic activities as a mortar, or grinding tool, and goes back hundreds of years. The cavity around the top suggests it was worn also as a pendant. Raymundo Dijkhoff, an archeologist from the National Archaeological Museum Aruba, tells us about his personal interest and the significance of this object and its discovery. He explains that throughout history, shamans played an essential role in society. They carried the knowledge of the oral history of a community, curing the sick and had important political roles such as foreseeing important occurrences and events. He explains that Shamans would be taught by older shamans or masters and would have to have the ability to go into a ‘trance’ or altered state of consciousness. In South America, shamans had many ways of inducing this trance state, with the goal of communicating with spirits who would help them while they performed their rituals. In addition to using acoustics, such as maracas and other instruments, Shamans would often use tobacco to achieve the trance state.

“The cross-cultural importance of objects like this pendant mortar is what makes it remarkable.”

The pendant mortar is thought to have been used during the preparation of the substance, as a grinding tool, but also as a conductor, bringing in energy from other dimensions to facilitate the shamanic practice. The object represents an animal (zoomorphic), and there are many animals with cultural importance in Amerindian culture. Although difficult to interpret, Raymundo hypothesized that the animal represented could be a bat. In the prehistoric Americas, bats were often associated with the afterlife, and were thought to be the spirits of ancestors. In many dark caves and overhanging boulders where bats could be found, indigenous drawings have been discovered. Though we cannot know for certain, this object may transmit an interesting story about indigenous conception of the afterlife and beliefs about non-physical realms. Similar objects have also been found in Colombia, though they were made from various materials. This suggests that there was a lot of mobility between the two countries, and diffusion of ideas. Since only one of these pendant mortars was found in Aruba, we can infer that it was an object of trade, or a gift. While we cannot know for sure if it was widely utilized in Aruba, it remains an important discovery because it details a rich precolonial history with important cultural relics and practices.