Oceania
Easter Island
Breast Ornament, Rei Miro
Wood, obsidian, bone
H. 15 in. (38.1 cm)
Raymond and Laura Wielgus Collection
Indiana University Art Museum, 2010.23

The rei miro was worn by both men and women. It served as an insignia of high rank, and the paramount chief of the island was said to have worn two of them as pectorals and two others on his shoulders on special occasions. The crescent shape may refer to the moon, an association found throughout Polynesia. The significance of the heads is unknown, though they may relate to ancestors.