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Two Masterpieces of Middle American Bone Sculpture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Keith A. Dixon
Keith A. Dixon*
Affiliation:
New World Archaeological Foundation Tuxtla Gutierrez Chiapas, Mexico
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Extract

Two magnificent works of art, in the form of carved human bones, have recently been discovered in archaeological excavations in southernmost Mexico. The sculptures are noteworthy for several reasons.

First, they are in themselves masterful works of craftsmanship. Few bone carvings approaching these in composition or technique have ever been found in Middle America. Second, works of art of such quality have not until now been reported from this region of central Chiapas in southern Mexico, an area just beginning to be known archaeologically.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , July 1958 , pp. 53 - 62
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1958

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