**Originally Listed At $1200**

Pre-Columbian, Southern Mexico to Guatemala, Maya Territories, Maya, Pre-classic Period, ca. 1000 to 100 BCE. A large hand-carved stone relief panel of a seated figure with a rounded profile. The figure perhaps represents a deity of the underworld given its expressive and abstract presentation defined by his squatting position and hands folded over knees. The stylized visage is comprised of coffee bean-shaped eyes, wide flat nose, and an ovoid mouth with full lips. Below the face are beaded shapes that indicate a necklace. The upper parts of the arms have incised chevron lines that perhaps indicate tattoos or scars. This stone sculpture may have served as an informal funerary statue or as a guardian to the entrance of a sacred site used to communicate with or traverse to the underworld. A fantastic piece that is well preserved and certainly holds symbolic meaning! Size: 11" L x 8.25" W (27.9 cm x 21 cm)

The Maya were a particularly spiritual society that believed most everything in the world of the living had a connection to the underworld. The Maya underworld is referred to as Xibalba, which roughly translates to "the place of fear." Archaeologists believe that the Maya fascination with the underworld may stem from the extensive cave systems which run beneath most of the Maya territories of Southern Mexico and Central America and all the way into Guatemala. Maya priests and shamans would ritualistically enter the cave systems, venturing deep within to find the threshold where the realm of the living and the land of the dead met. They would then conduct religious ceremonies, ritual sacrifices, and extend offers to the deities which controlled the underworld to garner their favor in healing the sick and ensuring a fertile harvest, though the exact purpose for these spiritual journeys unclear.

Provenance: private Southern California, USA collection, acquired in the 1970s to mid 1980s

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#160776

Surface abrasions with chips and nicks. Losses to right side. Great details and earthen encrustations in recessed areas.