PC254 - PRE-COLUMBIAN MEZCALA ARTIFACT SET FROM MEXICO

Product Description

ID

Stone figure, bead, ring, bark beater

FOUND

Mexico

AGE

700 B.C. - 650 A.D.

SIZE

3.25" - 1.5" in length

CONDITION

ALL AS ORIGINALLY FOUND. FIGURE
IS MISSING RIGHT ARM NUB AND
CHIP IN RIGHT LEG. BARK BEATER
IS ONLY HALF PRESENT.  BEAD 
AND RING ARE COMPLETE AND
IN PERFECT CONDITION.

ALL WITH MINERAL ENCRUSTATIONS
AND NO REPAIR OR RESTORATION.

NOTE

AFFORDABLE ARTIFACT SET FOR
TEACHING OR REFERENCE FOR THE 
PRICE OF ONE TYPICAL ITEM.

Actual Item - One Only

Comes with a certificate of authenticity / information sheet

Consisting of FOUR artifacts of various types, this is a great set attributed to the Pre-Columbian Mezcala culture.  Included is a basalt stone figure, half a ceramic bark beater (used to beat tree bark to make ancient paper), a complete turquoise bead that resembles a stylized skull or alien, and an unusual ceramic double opposing ring.  Mezcala Pre-Columbian objects hold a special intrigue in Mesoamerican ancient history.  Mezcala carved stone figures are so desirable and mysterious that even the later Pre-Columbian tribes of the region such as the inhabitants of Teotihuacan and the Aztecs, went to the trouble of digging them up and interring them into their own temples!  The abstract artistic nature of these objects is so unusual and unique that immediately by sight alone, they are recognizable for their culture and region of origin!  This set includes one of those stone figures!

At the price of what you would pay for the figure alone!  This set includes FOUR artifacts that are ORIGINAL WITH NO REPAIR OR RESTORATION.  

The Pre-Columbian Mezcala Culture is a little understood culture that was based in present-day Guerrero, Mexico.  A long, complex culture history of the Guerrero region prevents a finite understanding of who exactly made Mezcala objects.  The culture is also called Balsas Culture because it is centered in the upper Balsas River drainage region.  It is believed the Mezcala style emerged during the Pre-classic Period,  between 700-200 B.C. and continued on into Classic Period to 650 A.D..

Objects attributed to the the Mezcala Culture include figurines, masks, small effigies of animals and objects, beads, pendants and earplug flares.  They are carved from a variety of green, gray-green, gray and black color hardstones and jade.  The art style is so unique that Mezcala objects are readily recognized for their abstract and minimalist anatomical features.  Some Mezcala style stone objects show strong Olmec influence.  Beautiful stylized masks from Guerrero exhibit Teotihuacan Classic Period influence.  Mezcala style objects were excavated by the much later Aztec peoples and revered as sacred objects.

Mezcala style stone carved figurines have a basic petaloid axe form and are sometimes casually labeled "axe gods".  Symmetrically arranged cuts in the stone are arranged to resemble facial and body features.  Scarcer objects depict human forms in seated or crouching positions.  Carved stone masks are found in more diverse forms from abstract to beautifully stylized renderings.  Clay figures and pottery are also known but the culture is most famous for its unique carved stone objects.