PARIS, FRANCE—BBC News reports that a French collector handed over a fragment of an eighth-century A.D. Maya stela to Guatemala during a ceremony in Paris. The stone sculpture, which depicts a ruler wearing a bird of prey mask, disappeared from the site of Piedras Negras in the 1960s and reappeared at a Paris auction in 2019. Guatemalan officials objected to the sale and asked for the object to be returned. The carving will go on display at Guatemala’s National Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology in Guatemala City. To read about a stela discovered at northern Guatemala's ancient city of Witzna, go to "Maya Total War."
Maya Carving Repatriated to Guatemala
News October 25, 2021
SHARE:
Recommended Articles
SLUB Dresden, Mscr.Dresd.R.310, http://digital.slub-dresden. de/id280742827 (Public Domain Mark 1.0)
Artifacts January/February 2024
Maya Ceramic Whistles
(Courtesy Daniela Triadan, Ceibal-Petexbatun Archaeological Project)
Digs & Discoveries July/August 2023
A Game to Remember
(Courtesy INAH)
(Digital image overlaid with illustration by Heather Hurst)
-
Features September/October 2021
Secret Rites of Samothrace
Reimagining the experience of initiation into an ancient Greek mystery cult
(© American Excavations Samothrace) -
Features September/October 2021
Searching for the Fisher Kings
In the waters of southern Florida, the creative Calusa people forged a mighty empire
(Merald Clark) -
Letter From Scotland September/October 2021
Land of the Picts
New excavations reveal the truth behind the legend of these fearsome northern warriors
(Courtesy The Northern Picts Project) -
Artifacts September/October 2021
Late Medieval Ring
(© Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales)