Skull Pendant 

This skull pendant was carved by Aztec artists, sometime between 1300 and 1521. It reminds us that even objects intended for personal adornment were embedded within the society’s worldview. The skull, of course, is a powerful symbol of death, but in Aztec culture it also represented regeneration. This pendant wasn't simply a memento mori. It was a potent reminder of the cyclical nature of existence, a theme that resonated throughout Aztec religion and cosmology. The Aztecs had a complex understanding of the relationship between life and death, and this pendant provides a glimpse into that. The Met itself is an institution that frames and interprets this object for a modern audience. To truly understand its place within Aztec society, we need to delve into ethnographies, religious texts, and archaeological reports, piecing together a more complete picture. The meaning of art is contingent on its historical context and, in this case, its cultural context as well.