United States returns 'Earth Monster' Olmec sculpture to Mexico
Associated Press
Fri, May 19, 2023 at 5:43 PM CDT·1 min read
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico announced Friday that a huge 2,500-year-old Olmec stone sculpture has been returned from the United States.
The almost six-foot-tall (two-meter) “Monster of the Earth” sculpture appears to represent the gaping maw of a monster that is big enough to swallow people, and may represent a symbolic entrance to the underworld.
Experts say the sculpture is important because of the insights it provides on the cosmological vision of the Olmecs, considered a founding culture of Meso-America.
Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said the sculpture was handed over at the Mexican consulate in Denver, Colorado, on Friday.
More:
https://news.yahoo.com/united-states-returns-earth-monster-224312296.html
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Mexico regains pre-Christian 1-tonne 'Earth monster' statue from US
Posted Sat 1 Apr 2023 at 8:27pm Saturday 1 Apr 2023 at 8:27pm, updated Sat 1 Apr 2023 at 8:29pm
The stone carving weighs more than a tonne.(Twitter: Marcelo Ebrard)
Mexico has recovered from the United States a giant stone statue known as an "Earth monster", which dates to the Olmec civilisation before the Christian era, authorities said.
The elaborately carved statue weighs more than a tonne and is nearly 1.8 meters tall and 1.5 meters wide, the National Anthropology and History Institute (INAH) said in a release.
"Our Consul Jorge Islas in New York confirms to me that Mexico's most-sought Olmec piece has been recovered and is about to return home, from where it never should have been taken," Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard tweeted.
The Olmec civilisation predated those of the Maya and Aztec cultures, and its artisans were known for creating colossal stone heads, statues and upright slabs. The institute said it believes the statue was created sometime between 800-400 BC.
Known as Monument 9 of Chalcatzingo and found in the central Mexican state of Morelos, the bas-relief piece is believed to represent an "Earth monster", a creature that often appears in Olmec iconography, INAH said.
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https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au/5a5b9e10bac5ac78e58fa6f5f797eb43?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&cropH=1500&cropW=2250&xPos=0&yPos=94&width=862&height=575
Chaltcatzingo is known for its extensive array of Olmec-era monumental art and iconography.(AFP: Notimex)
More:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-02/mexico-regains-earth-monster-statue-from-us/102177082
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Chalcatzingo Morelos Mexico
= new reply since forum marked as read
By The Associated Press and Stephanie Rivera
· Today, 12:41 pm
Colorado Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera poses with Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard in front of a crate holding a 2,500-year-old Olmec sculpture originally from Mexico City that has been returned from the U.S.
Mexico announced Friday that a huge 2,500-year-old Olmec stone sculpture has been returned from the United States.
The almost six-foot-tall (two-meter) “Monster of the Earth” sculpture appears to represent the gaping maw of a monster that is big enough to swallow people, and may represent a symbolic entrance to the underworld.
Experts say the sculpture is important because of the insights it provides on the cosmological vision of the Olmecs, considered a founding culture of Meso-America.
Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said the sculpture was handed over at the Mexican consulate in Denver, Colorado, on Friday.
More:
https://www.cpr.org/2023/05/20/olmec-sculpture-mexico-repatriation-from-denver/