Tuxtla statuette
The so-called Tuxtla statuette - together with stele 1 from La Mojarra - is one of the most important testimonies to Mesoamerican cultural history. The figure, assigned to the Epi-Olmec cultural area on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico , now belongs to the holdings of the Department of Anthropology of the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC
Find history
The statuette was discovered in 1902 by a farmer plowing his field at the foot of the Sierra de los Tuxtlas in the Mexican state of Veracruz , acquired by employees of the Smithsonian Institution, hidden in a shipload of tobacco leaves and brought to the USA. The exact location of the site is unknown today.
description
The 16 cm high Tuxtla statuette is made of jade- like green stone ( nephrite ) and has more or less clear processing marks on all sides. It shows a figure with a human-like head with a receding forehead and a flat nose, which cannot deny certain optical similarities with the famous Olmec heads ; Below is a beak-like structure which - together with the wing-like sides - gives the figure a partly bird-like appearance. This ambivalent appearance has led to an overall interpretation of the statuette as a shaman priest with a bird mask and winged cloak.
Dating
The obverse shows a clearly recognizable date (8.6.2.4.17) of the long count , which corresponds to March 12th of the year 162 AD. For a long time it was discussed whether it could possibly be a forgery, as this date was about 300 years before the earliest known dates of the Maya at the time , but due to further finds - in particular that of the stele 1 which is only about 70 km away (as the crow flies) La Mojarra - these doubts have almost been dispelled.
See also
literature
- William H. Holmes: On a Nephrite Statuette from San Andrés Tuxtla, Vera Cruz, Mexico. In: American Anthropologist. New Series, Vol. 9, No. 4, 1907, pp. 691-701, JSTOR 659484 .
- Henry S. Washington : The jade of the Tuxtla statuette. In: Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Vol. 60, 1922, pp. 1-12, doi : 10.5479 / si.00963801.60-2409.1 .
Web links
- Tuxtla statuette - photo video (English)