Maya belt plaques

They can be seen as significant elements of the costumes of rulers on stelae and in other representations found in ancient Maya art.

These plaques, which hung from belts, were used during rituals to memorialize important events and dates.

They display rulers on their inauguration, important calendar dates and ancestral and deity worship.

[2] David Mora-Marin asserts that wearing these belts were based on "symbolic (ideology and ritual) and objective (staple and wealth) sources of power.

Dated from the Early Classic period and is believed to have come originally from the central lowlands Petén Basin of Guatemala, more specifically, the Maya site of Tikal.