The examination of an historic “portal to the underworld” that has perplexed archaeologists has lastly ended, officers say.
The Mexican artifact, referred to as the Olmec Cave Masks, was stolen from the Chalcatzingo archaeological website in Mexico’s Central Highlands within the Nineteen Sixties.
Smugglers broke the millennia-old masks into a number of items and circulated them round a number of museums and personal collections earlier than the complete artifact was lastly given again to Mexico in 2023.
The traditional artifact was crafted between 800 and 400 B.C.
In an August 2023 press launch from the Manhattan District Legal professional’s Workplace, officers mentioned that the piece is alleged to resemble “the traditional Olmec jaguar god Tepēyōllōtl.”
“[The god is] depicted as a feline with giant oval eyes, flaring nostrils, and a gaping mouth,” the press launch describes.
“Representing of the passage to the afterworld, the hulking Olmec Cave Masks guarded the doorway to a ceremonial cave on the archaeological website Chalcatzingo, Mexico.”
In a Might 30 press launch, Mexico’s Nationwide Institute of Anthropology and Historical past (INAH) introduced that the examination of the piece was reaching its finish.
The artifact will “return in the very best state of conservation to its house, Jantetelco, in Morelos.”
Historians labored diligently to scrub the piece and take away mud from the traditional artifact.
In a press launch translated from Spanish to English, the INAH defined that some components of the masks date again 2,700 years, whereas others are extra fashionable.
“Some components that make it up are authentic, however others, corresponding to a metallic construction based mostly on bolts, cement reinforcements and replacements of lacking and formed components, they have been added to provide it stability once more, though the strategies and supplies weren’t essentially the most appropriate,” the assertion defined.
“We observe this by x-rays, however with a partial studying, given that X-rays don’t penetrate sufficient as a result of composition and construction of the stone.”
In Might 2023, the Manhattan District Legal professional’s Workplace additionally defined that it took a few years to grab the artifact, and required the work of a number of businesses.
“The return of the Olmec Cave Masks marked the conclusion of a posh, multi-year investigation performed by the Workplace’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit with Homeland Safety Investigations-New York and the unwavering assist of Jorge Islas Lopez, Consul Basic of Mexico in New York,” the workplace mentioned.
“By the distinctive cooperation and help of Mexican Consul Basic Islas, the Olmec Cave Masks was seized in Might and returned to Mexico Metropolis in July”
Manhattan District Legal professional Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. referred to as the artifact a “uncommon window into the previous of Olmec society.”
“Like many different looted antiquities, the Olmec Cave Masks was damaged into a number of completely different items to make the smuggling course of less complicated,” Bragg described.
“After being despatched to completely different museums and personal collections throughout the US for almost 60 years, the Cave Masks can lastly return to sit down with the remainder of its companion monuments.”
