A Fine Coclé Gold necklace of Double Effigy Pendants, Parita, ca. A.D. 800-1500

the five, solid cast pendants of conjoined, zoomorphic figures, each dramatically depicting a bat in flight with tall pointed ears and outspread tail, rounded body, talons curling to the side and front, and with segmented designs on the long neck, eight individual figures with a rectangular dangle projecting from the rounded body, strung with tubular spacers and four groups of tapering beads in the form of teeth. 

Andre Emmerich, 1964
Christie's, Paris, June 5, 2005, lot 385

Excellent - no repairs, some dangles show bent portions, as shown in photo. Nice casting and good buttery gold color.
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Magnificent gold ornaments finely and densely cast as stylized zoomorphic and human figures, were primarily the accoutrements of the ruling caciques and elite, imbuing their ceremonial rituals with the magical light of shimmering gold, and the powerful connotations of the creatures represented. The conjoined pendants were a special category of jewelry, referencing the dual forces of life and death, and supernatural occurrences. The bat is the only mammal capable of sustained flight, and its nocturnal hunting may contribute to its association with sacrifice. As such the bat would be a powerful avatar for a warrior chief.
For examples of the double pendant type, see Cooke in Quilter and Hoopes (2003: 129, fig. 9), and for double animals, and similar spacers, see Emmerich (1965: figs. 115, and 109) .