View source for Sacrum bone of Tequixquiac

{{Short description|Paleo-Indian sculpture}}
{{Infobox artefact|image=Hueso sacro de Tequixquiac.JPG|created=16,000 to 9,000 years|material=[[Bone]]|location=[[Mexico City]], [[Mexico]]|caption=The sacrum bone of Tequixquiac|discovered_place=[[Tequixquiac]], [[State of Mexico]], [[Mexico]]|discovered_by=[[Mariano de la Bárcena|Mariano Barcena]]|discovered_date=1870}}
The '''Sacrum bone of Tequixquiac''' is an ancient [[paleo-Indian]] sculpture carved in a [[pleistocene]]-era bone of a prehistoric [[Camelidae#Evolution|camelid]]. It was discovered by Mexican geologist and botanist [[Mariano de la Bárcena]] in 1870 in [[Tequixquiac]], [[Mexico]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mesoweb.com/features/jpl/113.html|title=Mesoweb Features|website=www.mesoweb.com|access-date=2019-01-15}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/global-prehistory-ap/paleolithic-mesolithic-neolithic/a/camelid-sacrum-in-the-shape-of-a-canine|title=Camelid sacrum in the shape of a canine|last=Harris|first=Beth|last2=Zucker|first2=Steven|website=Khan Academy|language=en|access-date=2019-01-15}}</ref> The carving, dated around 14,000 BCE to 7,000 B.C.E., is considered among the earliest pieces of art from the North American continent.<ref>de Anda, Luis Aveleyra Arroyo. "The Pleistocene Carved Bone from Tequixquiac, Mexico: A Reappraisal." American Antiquity (1965): 261-277.</ref><ref name=":0" /> Although the original purpose of the sculpture is unknown, some scholars have said that the carving held some religious value due to the sacredness of the sacrum bone in later Mesoamerican cultures.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://research.famsi.org/aztlan/uploads/papers/stross-sacrum.pdf|title=The Mesoamerican Sacrum Bone: Doorway to the Otherworld|last=Stross|first=Brian|website=research.famsi.org|access-date=January 15, 2019}}</ref>
== History ==
[[File:Palacio Municipal de Tequixquiac (4).JPG|thumbnail|left|Mural inside the Municipality House.]]
This sacrum bone was found in [[Tequixquiac]]. The carver was likely nomadic and hunted large animals such as mammoths and gathered fruits as evidenced by archaeological evidence found at the site. According to Bárcena, the carver likely used a sharp instrument to cut the holes.<ref name=":0" />
The artifact was owned privately from 1895 to 1956, and is currently located in the [[National Museum of Anthropology]] in [[Mexico City]].<ref name="EncMuc">{{cite web|url=http://www.e-local.gob.mx/work/templates/enciclo/mexico/mpios/15096a.htm |language=Spanish |title=Enciclopedia de los Municipios de Mexico Estado de Mexico Tequixquiac |accessdate=2008-11-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070527201737/http://www.e-local.gob.mx/work/templates/enciclo/mexico/mpios/15096a.htm |archivedate=May 27, 2007 }}</ref>
== References ==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:1870 archaeological discoveries]]
[[Category:Prehistoric art]]
[[Category:Tequixquiac]]
[[Category:Bone carvings]]
[[Category:Collection of the National Museum of Anthropology (Mexico)]]