It's always a treat (for me, at least,) when I'm following a thread in a forum like this, and I run into a link back to my own material; in this case, sections of the catalog that I created for my daughter, to go along with my personal collection of pre-columbian artifacts, which she'll eventually inherit.
I realize this thread goes back a couple of years, and that the OP might not see my response, but since I actually know quite a lot about this subject, I felt compelled to chime in anyway. It's a shame that the OP's Tairona vessel was damaged in transit, but guy who repaired it did a great job. It's a cool thing to keep in a man cave--as long as it doesn't creep you out that it was stolen from a grave!
In 1972--almost half a century ago--I was a student working toward a degree in anthropology, and as part of my undergraduate thesis, I did archaeological fieldwork in the area where that Tairona piece originated. I watched as teams of
guaqueros (pot hunters) ripped through a Tairona graveyard that was on private land, outside the adjacent archaeological preserve. No trowels or sifters or tiny paint brushes for these guys, because there was no science involved. They worked with pick axes and shovels, and if they struck pottery (THUNK!), well, that was
good, because it meant they were on top of something. Many of the Tairona nobles were buried in large, heavy, red clay urns with seperate lids. Offerings, including gold and semi-precious stone jewelry, was placed inside the urn with the deceased, and other offering jars, like that double stirrup-spout vessel, were arranged in a circle around the large urn. The
guaqueros didn't have any use for the heavy burial urns, or the grinding stones, or anything that was broken during the excavation of these elaborate burials. They were mostly in it for the gold and the jade, and for the better ceramic pieces, which were selling for good prices in the city of Santa Marta. That Tairona cemetery, some 10,000 burials representing 1,000 years of history, was completely destroyed by the
guaqueros, and that's a tragedy that can never be undone. There's a very high probability that the OP's Tairona vessel was dug up by one of those same
guaqueros, and sold to an artifact dealer, who in turn sold it to a tourist. Through at least the mid-1970's, pre-columbian artifacts were popular souvenirs for well-heeled tourists visiting Colombia (prior to the rise of the drug cartels). There was no restriction on their export, and no problem bringing them into the US as duty free antiques. All that has changed, of course. (Boy, has it ever changed!)
By virtue of its age, the Tairona piece is a treasure, but that doesn't necessarily translate into high dollar value. Such things are worth what a buyer is willing to pay; there are many fakes on the market, so if you can't prove the provenance (the "where did it come from,") Tairona ceramics are very difficult to sell.
Rick Quinn
