THE mystery of an ancient 3,000-year-old “door to hell” dedicated to an Aztec god has been solved after it was stolen from a hidden cave.
The Mexican artefact, called the Olmec Cave Mask, was looted in the early 1960s but has finally been returned to Mexico after a 64 year hunt.
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Dating back almost 3,000 years, the 2,000lb artifact depicts the jaguar god Tepeyollotlicuhti, with large oval eyes, flaring nostrils and a gaping mouth.
It was only in May that authorities figured out the artefact had been looted, following years of confusion and bewilderment over its disappearance.
But following a joint investigation by prosecutors in Manhattan with Homeland Security, it was seized last month.
It remains unclear if anyone will face criminal charges relating to the sculpture.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr. announced Thursday in a press release that the mask is “extraordinarily rare” and had been crafted as far back as 800 B.C.E. in Mexico.
“Representing of the passage to the afterworld, the hulking Olmec Cave Mask guarded the entrance to a ceremonial cave at the archaeological site Chalcatzingo, Mexico,” the statement read.
“This incredible, ancient piece is a rare window into the past of Olmec society,” Bragg added.
The district attorney revealed how those who had looted the mask had ending up smashing it into different pieces to make it easier to smuggle.
It ended up being sent to different museums and private collections across the United States for nearly 60 years.
“The Cave Mask can finally return to sit with the rest of its companion monuments,” Bragg said.
Investigators discovered that one of the multiple museums it was loaned to was the renowned Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Documents also revealed that the mask was most recently sold to a private collector, prior to its recapture.
The sculpture is known as the “Portal to the Underworld” to the people of Mexico and comes from the Olmec Civilization.
Considered the “mother culture” of many other cultures that appeared in the region in later years, Olmec artworks are considered among ancient America’s most striking.
Ivan Arvelo, the New York special agent-in-charge for Homeland Security Investigations, said the Olmecs were one of the most influential ancient civilisations of the early Americas.
Because of this, the historical and cultural significance of this sculpture are “without measure”, he says.
Who were the Aztecs?
By Tom Malley
The Aztec’s are one of the world’s most notorious tribes who thrived in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521.
A nomadic culture, the Aztecs eventually settled on several small islands in Lake Texcoco where they founded the town of Tenochtitlan in 1325.
Today, that place is known as the modern-day Mexico City, the nations capital.
The Aztecs are often remembered as a fierce and bloodthirsty race who were aggressive in battle.
They also engaged in human sacrifice to appease their various gods.
Aztec culture and history is primarily known through archaeological evidence found in excavations such as the renowned Templo Mayor in Mexico City.
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