Tecaxic-Calixtlahuaca head

Artifact

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

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. There is no signs of disturbances to the context of the figurine as of yet.

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

Pre-Colombian Contact

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. The Pre-Colombian contact argument will often say that it would be possible of a shipwreck to take place and the potential survivors could have drifted ashore.

Viking Souvenir

It is also argued that the figurine is a Viking souvenir.