Massive 'Earth Monster' Ancient Statue in US Will Return Home to Mexico; What Makes This Piece Historically Important?

The "Earth Monster" ancient statue is one of Mexico's long-sought pieces that has stayed in the US for quite a while. Now, Mexico has been able to recover this ancient statue.

Earth Monster Ancient Statue

According to Science Alert, the Earth monster is intricately carved. It weighs over a ton and is close to six feet in height and five feet in width.

What makes this ancient statue particularly interesting is that it dates back to the Olmec civilization, which came before the Christian period. In fact, this civilization even came before the Aztec and Mayan cultures. Artisans from the Olmec civilization were acknowledged for making huge statues, upright slaps, and stone heads.

It is also known as Monument 9 of Chalcatzingo, which translates to "Little Chalco." CBS News mentions that Mexican migrants named the statue this way during the Postclassic period, which was from 900 to AD 1521. However, it is thought to symbolize an "Earth Monster," which is a being that keeps showing up in Olmec iconography.

The National Anthropology and History Institute (INAH) notes that the statue may have been crafted between 800 and 400 B.C.

As per Science Alert, the piece's open jaws represent underworld access. Moreover, on the creature's month is a three-concentric-band sequence projection. This symbolizes a cross-shaped access toward a cavern.

Earth Monster Statue Will Return Home to Mexico

This Earth monster statue was allegedly illegally retrieved from Chalcatzingo. However, specialists do not know when this happened.

According to the INAH, documents indicate that the Earth monster was publicly revealed in 1968 by David Grove, an archaeologist, in an American Antiquity magazine. Based on this, it is assumed that the ancient statue was in the US by the start of the 20th century's second half.

Authorities from New York were able to recover the statue. The release, however, did not indicate where the artifact was spotted.

Marcelo Ebrard, a foreign minister of Mexico, notes that the Consul Jorge Islas in New York issued a confirmation that the long-sought ancient Olmec statue was recovered and will be returning home. Ebrard also notes that the piece will go back to where "it never should have been taken."

According to Yahoo! News, Mario Córdova Tello, an archaeologist, has welcomed the statue's recovery. Tello notes that the statue is a vital research piece when it comes to Olmec iconography. Because of this, they are enthusiastic and joyful about receiving this news.

Authorities also note that Mexico has had ongoing efforts to recover historical heritage that has been taken from them. In fact, since 2018, nearly 10,000 artifacts have been retrieved.

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