ETHNOGRAPHICAL MUSEUM, BERLIN
In 1908 Dr. Manuel Gamio conducted an important excavation of an ancient building at the site known as the monuments of Alta Vista, near Chalchihuites, Zacatecas, in northern Mexico. In a large chamber called the Hall of the Columns, Gamio found two mosaics in a small circular compartment in the concrete floor. One of these was a disc of yellow pottery encircled by a ring of wood, the entire object being about two and three-quarters inches in diameter and three-eighths of an inch thick. The wooden ring bore traces of a coating of resin, and many tiny bits which formed the mosaic incrustation were found with it, although not in place. The bits that had formed the mosaic were thin plates of worked turquois, beryl, and steatite. From the fact that the disc contained perforations, evidently for suspension, Gamio described it as a breast ornament.
The other mosaic piece Gamio believes to have been a labret. He writes that “at first glance its shape may be described as resembling the bridge of a violin.... Its nucleus is wood, carved to represent two symmetrical figures of an alligator (caiman), united at the belly. Crowning the head are two head plumes, each having two branches. Above the point of union of the two reptiles there is a square projection with a perforation.”[78] The surface of the ornament had been covered with small spherical plates of turquois, beryl, and steatite.
Near these two mosaic ornaments were found numerous small pieces of turquois and beryl of different shapes.
In October, 1921, the Spanish newspaper La Prensa, New York, published a short account, received by letter from the City of Mexico, describing what purported to be an extraordinary discovery made early in the autumn. It related to the finding of a stone mask decorated in mosaic, discovered by one of the assistants of the Museo Nacional in a sepulchral chamber in Guerrero. This mask was described as being about eight inches high, the human face being partly covered with an incrustation of small pieces of turquois, with small bits of coral shell above the eyebrows and below the nose. Each eye was formed by an oval piece of pearl shell, with pupils of hematite. The mosaic covering was missing from the upper part of the forehead and the chin.
The newspaper Excelsior of Mexico City, under date of October 20, 1921, published a photograph of the specimen and a detailed study of the object in a statement signed by José María Arreola, a member of the staff of the Department of Anthropology in the City of Mexico. In this statement Arreola casts doubt on the authenticity of the specimen, pointing out that none of the known pieces of mosaic-work in European collections are of stone; that the surface of the mask is polished, which would make it difficult for the incrustation to have adhered during centuries of burial; that there are no traces of dirt in the cracks between the pieces of turquois, and finally he calls attention to a strong odor of glue which pervades the object. These arguments seemed sufficient to cast serious doubt as to the genuineness of the mosaic decoration of the mask. No such question was raised in regard to the mask itself. In a brief article entitled “Una Mascara de Mosaico Falsificada,” published in Ethnos (nos. 8-12, dated Mexico, Nov. 1920-Mar. 1921), the same writer categorically asserts that the specimen is fraudulent, and calls on the reputed finder, Sr. Don Porfirio Aguirre, to present the evidence regarding the exact place where the specimen was discovered in order that further excavation may be made with a view of establishing beyond question the history of such an important and unique discovery.[79]
PL. XIX
MASK OF HUMAN SKULL WITH MOSAIC DECORATION
BRITISH MUSEUM, LONDON