Mask, c. 900-300 BCE, 6 7/8 x 5 9/16 x 3 1/4 in. ( x x cm), Jadeite, cinnabar, Mexico, 9th-3rd century BCE, This mask was created about 3000 years ago, perhaps as a portrait of a leader among the Olmec people of Mesoamerica (present-day southern Mexico). It was likely reserved for ceremonial use. An artist sculpted it from jadeite, then carved lines and highlighted them with a red mineral powder of mercury sulfide (cinnabar). These lines may replicate face paint or tattooing. The rare materials and symbolic designs, like the supernatural human-jaguar

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Size: 4570px × 4567px
Location:
Photo credit: © Penta Springs / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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