May 11
JohnArt, Maya, Mesoamerica, North America
Guatemala.Discovery of an extraordinary offering of a jadeite mosaic miniature ceremonial head underscores the importance and political power at the beginning of Early Classic of the ancient Maya city Tak’alik Ab’aj
Tak’alik Ab’aj is an ancient pre-Hispanic city situated in El Asintal, Department of Retalhuleu at the pacific piedmont of Guatemala*. This important long distance trade and cosmopolitan cultural center is transcendent because of its long history which endured 1700 years (800 B.C. – 900 A.D). At its beginnings Tak’alik Ab’aj interacted and participated with the Olmec culture, and at its surmise, was one of the protagonists in the development of the early Maya culture. This particularity in addition to the extraordinary production of sculpture programs during these two important cultural periods, make Tak’alik Ab’aj unique in the history of Mesoamerica.
http://guatemala-times.com/archeology/takalik-abaj/1555-mysterious-mayan-ceremonial-head-found-at-takaalik-abaaj-.html
May 03
JohnArt, Maya, Mesoamerica, North America
MEXICO CITY.- Six giant figureheads at Chakanbakan Archaeological Zone, Quintana Roo, considered the greatest and among the earliest in the area, will be restored by specialists of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).
Created more than 2,300 years ago, these sculptures remind the Olmeca style, which represented deities with jaguar faces, revealing the adoption by Maya of elements from earliest cultures.
Intervention to figureheads made out of stucco, clay and stone is coordinated by Gerardo Calderon and conducted by specialists from the INAH National Coordination of Cultural Heritage Conservation (CNCPC).
“A team of restorers will begin an integral cleaning in May 2010, followed by plastering and reintegration of small missing parts, as well as consolidation”, informed archaeologist Fernando Cortes, in charge of the archaeological zone.
He added that during conservation work, restorers will take samples of the black pigment used to emphasize the face features, to determine its origin and restore it, since sun, rain, wind and time have damaged it.
http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=37796
Apr 21
JohnArt, Maya, Mesoamerica, North America, Teotihuacan
Through his findings of ancient art and architecture in Veracruz, Mexico, a Mexican archaeologist defined the importance of an earlier period in history at a lecture Monday.
Arturo Pascual, the director of the Institute of Aesthetic Research at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, presented his work titled “El Tajin: In search of the origins of a civilization,” a compilation of findings from a Cacahuatal phase site in El Tajin, Veracruz that was excavated under his direction.
http://thedailycougar.com/2010/04/14/study-gives-insight-to-mayan-culture/
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