**Title:**
Pre-Columbian Gran Chiriquí Painted Pottery Jar Costa Rica Panama
**Short Description:**
Pre-Columbian Gran Chiriquí ceramic jar with rounded body, short neck, everted rim, and bold black painted zoomorphic decoration over a burnished red-orange ground. Likely southwestern Costa Rica or western Panama, ca. AD 1000–1500.
**Full Description:**
A distinctive pre-Columbian painted ceramic vessel attributed to the Gran Chiriquí cultural region of southwestern Costa Rica and western Panama.
The jar has a low globular body with a short constricted neck and strongly everted rim. The exterior is finished in a warm red-orange burnished slip and decorated with a large black painted motif composed of a central circular element and radiating hooked linear forms.
The painted design appears zoomorphic and may represent a highly stylized reptilian or crocodilian figure, imagery that is well documented in the ceramic traditions of the Greater Chiriquí region. The motif remains unusually readable despite age-related surface wear.
The vessel shows broad hand-burnishing marks, irregular firing variation, natural pigment loss, and surface abrasion consistent with archaeological ceramic material.
Conservatively attributed to the Gran Chiriquí tradition, probably dating to approximately AD 1000–1500.
**Condition Report:**
Good overall archaeological condition. Surface wear, abrasions, deposits, discoloration, fading and localized loss to painted decoration throughout. Wear and small losses are present around the rim and exposed high points. The principal painted motif remains clearly visible. No obvious major structural breaks are apparent in the supplied photographs. Please review all images carefully as they form part of the condition description.
**Specifications:**
* Culture: Gran Chiriquí
* Region: Southwestern Costa Rica / Western Panama
* Period: Pre-Columbian
* Approximate Date: ca. AD 1000–1500
* Material: Earthenware pottery
* Form: Globular painted jar
* Rim: Everted / flared
* Surface: Burnished red-orange slip
* Decoration: Black painted geometric and zoomorphic motif
* Possible Imagery: Stylized reptilian / crocodilian design
* Provenance: From an older private collection; exact excavation history unknown
* Dimensions: 3¼ in x 4 in