Tecaxic-Calixtlahuaca head

Artifact

The Tecaxic-Calixthahuaca Head is a head figure that is believed to be part of a larger figurine.

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Discovery

A figurine of a head was discovered in the pre-Hispanic town of Tecaxic-Calixtlahuaca in 1933 during an excavation of a burial offering that looked very similar to the Roman statues of the same time.

"[the head] is without any doubt Roman, and the lab analysis has confirmed that it is ancient. The stylistic examination tells us more precisely that it is a Roman work from around the II century A.D., and the hairstyle and the shape of the beard present the typical traits of the Severian emperors period [193-235 A.D.], exactly in the ‘fashion’ of the epoch." (Andreae cited in Domenici 2000: 29).

Controversy

The figurine is often used to argue Pre-Colombian Contact, because the figurine has the appearance of a Roman statue found in Mesoamerica around the same time period.