Some International Relics

joshuaream

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Jun 25, 2009
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Discussions related to North American Indian artifacts. Canada/USA/Mexico.

I've been slowly downloading my old photos from Photobucket since they went all fee crazy, and figured I'd post something here. These fall under the Mexico part of North America.

These three artifacts in this post were part of an eBay collection I bought several years back of some great Mezcala artifacts. The seller was listing lots of small beads that were listed in the right category but weren't selling well as she wasn't describing them and didn't know the culture, so I was usually the only bidder. She sent me a note in one of the boxes with some pictures of what else she had, and we made a deal. A relative of hers bought them years ago and they were in a box she got when he died.

These are small versions of the classic Mezcala artifact, the stern figurine. It's pretty rare that an ancient culture came up with such a uniquely abstract way of displaying the human face and body. A couple of lines to denote the eyes, mouth, neck and body features, but some of them are really quite beautiful. This culture lines up timewise with the Adena. (Around 1000 BC-200 BC.)

Mezcala.jpg


This is a less common style, made on a piece of local greenstone that is typical for artifacts from this area.
Mezcala1.jpg

Mezcala2.jpg

Mezcala3.jpg

One of my favorite Archaeological sites is Teotihuacan (Pyramid of the Sun, Moon, etc.) It's a very cool place, and the surrounding fields and city is filled with artifacts. I purchased these from an older collector who bought them decades ago. These little figurines are pretty common, the larger one has a matching headdress. They are thought to represent dead people, so if you click the picture you can see a larger photo which shows kind of the blank stare/mouth open dead face. This culture lines up with the Hopewell in the US (200 BC - 400 AD), and there has long been debate if either group had at least a vague knowledge of each other.

Teotihuacan2.jpg

Teotihuacan.jpg

Aztec or Mixtec Obsidian Earspools/labrets. The Aztecs were around when the Spanish arrived, but they were in a constant struggle with other groups in the central valley of Mexico. These groups line up with the Mississippian. The Caddo in Oklahoma had an obsidian flake from a quarry near Mexico City, so there is some indirect evidence of trade through neighboring groups... They might not have known each other directly, but via neighbor of a neighbor of a neighbor ideas, technology and occasionally material moved north and south. (You see some very similar shell gorgets with hawk, eagle, eye, hand motifs, similar mounds/pyramid shapes, similar layout at some ceremonial centers, discoidals, monolithic axes, large bifaces/dance swords, etc.)

Labret.jpg
 

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unclemac

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very nice!...how can you be sure of the authenticity?
 

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joshuaream

joshuaream

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Thank you for the comments everyone.

very nice!...how can you be sure of the authenticity?

That is a valid question, as there are a lot of outright fakes, and especially with pottery, a lot of non-realistic reproductions that start with a broken authentic piece.

It comes down to a lot of time studying the culture to see if a piece is made correctly (form, workmanship), if it is made from the right material, and then if it shows the right type of patina/wear. When I can, I also look at the entire collection. A collection with the right mix of common pieces, good pieces and a few great pieces is a lot more realistic to find than a collection of pure g-10 examples.

I buy what I feel comfortable with. I've spent decades looking at, collecting, visiting collections, etc. of material from Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and Northern South America, if it's from there I'm pretty confident buying a piece for my collection.
 

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Mark Todd

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Don't know much about Central American artifacts, only dabbled a bit. However I enjoy learning more about every prehistoric group or culture.
I have a question about the death figurines, is the lithic a jade included conglomerate?
Next question, and this might sound preposterous, but the greenstone human face effigy appears to me,at least in your pictures, to show, protected by hafting, pecking scars, indicating that it was used somewhat like an axe or celt, halfed and then used for a utilitarian wise task, because the polish appears to me at least, to be from use rather than from original manufacturing. If this is the case, it appears that your artifact was utilitarian rather than votive, i.e devotional (votive). Don't misunderstand my comment as as a pejorative one, quite to the contrary, I find it the more interesting if there is any merit to what I think I see?
I very much enjoy telling stories especially true ones. In the mid-eighties my wife put her name in a local grocery store drawing for which was advertised that she might win a deep freezer. We could have used one, we were living mostly off of the land at time. And doing a lot of canning and freezing.
A few weeks later she got a call on our phone,and was told that we were the Grand Prize winners of a trip to Cancun for four days, and some spending money, plus a flight to Cozumel to go snorkeling, and a road trip to Chichen Itza. While at the Toltec ruin, I climbed the tall steep steps of the pyramid there. I was young and stupid at the time, I had been running 5, 10, and 15k races, so I decided ( REALLY STUPID!) to jog back down the very tall and very steep pyramid steps! Before I got the bottom gravity took over, and I thought was probably going to break my neck in front of all the other tourists, not to mention my wife. Well, I'm still here to say I made it down unscathed but not sure how!
Also wanted to say that, I still have many eyes out there watching for your personal find; "flint river dovetail" that you'd like to bring back home. One fella with one of the finest flint ridge collections in the nation said that if he'd ever seen it, he'd remember it. The guy is a regular at the Collinsville show. Also a big boy Broker friend of mine has put the word out to everyone in the Chicago erea to watch for your piece.
I've got a piece that I'd very much like to have back, so I understand.
 

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Jon Stewart

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One year while in New Mexico 7 of us went two hours south of the border to hunt. We found 79 arrowheads or parts of arrowheads in 4 hours. The best find was our friend found a cruciform. A handful of the points would fit on a nickle. We only went the one year as it got a little rough down there. And that is a shame because we had a good time down there.
 

pickaway

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Amazing artifacts ,thanks for the look...really like the handheld face piece...
 

unclemac

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One year while in New Mexico 7 of us went two hours south of the border to hunt. We found 79 arrowheads or parts of arrowheads in 4 hours. The best find was our friend found a cruciform. A handful of the points would fit on a nickle. We only went the one year as it got a little rough down there. And that is a shame because we had a good time down there.

i go down to Sinaloa quite a bit but do not have the balls to go into the wilderness to hunt!
 

unclemac

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what are those bluish/greenish effigies made of?...i think better pics are in order!!!!
 

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