Tuxtla Statuette
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The Tuxtla Statuette is a small 6 inch (16 cm) rounded piece of nephrite (greenstone), carved to resemble a squat, bullet-shaped human with a duck bill and wings. It is incised with 75 glyphs of what has been named Epi-Olmec script, one of the few extant examples of this writing system.
The Tuxtla Statuette was discovered in 1902 by a farmer plowing his field near La Mojarra in the west foothills of the Tuxtlas mountains in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution shortly thereafter, reputedly smuggled into New York hidden in a shipment of tobacco leaf.
The human face carved into the stone is unremarkable except for the long bill that extends down his chest. This bill has been identified as belonging to the boat-billed heron, a locally abundant bird along the Tabasco and southern Veracruz Gulf Coast.[1] The wings or wing-like cape envelop the body while feet have been incised into the base.
The Tuxtla Statuette is also notable in that its glyphs include the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar date of March 162 CE, which in 1902 was the oldest Long Count date discovered. Some researchers, including Sylvanus Morley, have suggested that the date was inscribed some time after the statuette was created.
The Tuxtla Statuette is now held at Dumbarton Oaks, Washington D.C..
[edit] Notes
- ^ Justeson/Kaufman, p. 82
[edit] References
- Diehl, Richard A. (2004) The Olmecs: America's First Civilization, Thames & Hudson, London.
- Justeson, John S., and Kaufman, Terrence (2001) Epi-Olmec Hieroglyphic Writing and Texts, Austin, Texas.
