An “extraordinary” nose ornament made from human bone was discovered at the site of an ancient Maya city in Mexico.
Researchers found the unique artifact during work at the Palenque Archaeological Zone in the southern state of Chiapas, the country’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) said in a statement.
Palenque was a Maya city-state that was occupied from the late first millennium B.C. to around the 8th century A.D. The archaeological site contains some of the finest-known examples of Maya architecture and art.
The Maya civilization dominated what is now southeastern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and the western areas of El Salvador and Honduras for more than 3,000 years until the era of Spanish colonization.
INAH
Mayans were notable for creating the only fully developed writing system in pre-Columbian America, and for their striking architecture and art, as well as their advanced calendar, mathematics, and astronomical system.
The nasal ornament that researchers found formed part of a ritual deposit that has been dated to the Late Classic period (600 and 850 A.D.) of Mesoamerican history.
It was made with part of a human leg bone and features a precisely carved scene. In one section of the artifact, the profile of a man can be seen wearing headgear shaped like the head of a bird. In another section, a representation of a human skull without a lower jaw is visible.
Researchers believe the nasal ornament was worn by rulers and priests of the ancient city during ceremonies in which they embodied K’awiil—the Maya god of corn and fertility—”since one of the characteristic features of the divinity is the shape of the extremely elongated head and profile that ended in a point,” Arnoldo González Cruz, the director of the Palenque Archaeological Project (PAP), said in the statement.
The ancient people of Palenque sought to reproduce the head of this deity through intentional cranial deformation, according to Cruz.
Intentional deformation of skulls is a practice that has been documented in various ancient cultures around the world, including those of Mesoamerica. In a handful of locations around the world, it still occurs today.
The practice involves altering the normal development of the skull bones, which produce a variety of distinctive shapes and forms.
The development of the skull is distorted by the application of force, which can be achieved using various techniques, such as binding between pieces of wood. Typically, such techniques are applied during infancy because the skull is at its most pliable at this time.
INAH
The nasal ornament found in Palenque measures around 2.5 inches long by 2 inches wide. It was designed to be worn on the nose while projecting over the forehead of its wearer.
Individuals whose skulls had been deformed to resemble that of the corn deity would take on a particular look when they wore the nasal ornament.
“The [deformed skull] and the use of the nasal ornament allowed the bridge of the nose to be covered, so that the profile, from the tip of the nose to the forehead, was a continuous and almost straight line,” Cruz said.
The ornament was found among the remains of fish, turtles, small mammals, seeds, obsidian blades and some large pieces of charcoal, according to INAH.