Many of these images are of pre-Columbian artifacts found throughout Honduras and housed in the Roatan Museum.  Roatan is one of the Bay Islands in the Caribbean off the coast of Honduras.

The Lempira is the currency
of Honduras.  The current exchange rate is about fourteen Lempira to $1 US.

This ceramic artifact was found in the Sula valley.  Dating between 600 and 1000 AD, it provides unique insights into the dress and aesthetics of the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the region.

Below is another ceramic portrait of a pre-Columbian Honduran.

 The photograph below is of a contemporary Honduran woman.

The manufacture of ceramics began in the Americas about 3000 BC.  Honduran artifacts reveal a wide diversity in innovation and regional variations in terms of their form and decorative methods. 

The imagery on this ceramic vessel was painted before it was fired.  The pre-Columbians used many methods of ornamentation. 
To the left is another example of "painted on" pictograms and imagery.

The vessel on the right contains pictograms that tell a story of a tribal dignitary who is expecting a child. 

The shapes of the two vessels below are based on a popular form of squash that is still used as a dietary staple today in Honduras.  The use of these forms is indirect evidence of plant domestication by the pre-Columbians.

"Yaba Ding Ding" is a colorful term which may be unique to the Bay Islands.  Some islanders use it to signify any pre-Columbian artifact, but the term is usually reserved for the great quantity of detached supports or adornments which have broken off the ceramic vessels.  

These "Yaba Ding Dings" were most likely used as "handles" or perhaps "feet" for ceramic vessels.

Remains of great Myan "City-States" can be found on the mainland of Honduras.  But, there is very little evidence of  towns or villages from the pre-Columbian era of the Bay Island region.  Yet many ceramic artifacts of the period abound.  The speculation is that the islands held a ceremonial significance for the pre-Columbian Hondurans.

"Metals" were also used by the pre-Columbians as a material for creating useful items.  These ceremonial bells are made from copper.

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Special thanks to the Roatan Museum for allowing us to photograph their artifacts.