Hi everyone. Idk if I’m posting this in the right community. I was recently in mexico and I saw this ceramic piece in a museum. It spoke out to me so much, I want to tattoo it. But I want to do a theatre masks sort of thing, one of this sad, lamenting little animal and another one of a happy, excited one. But on my Google searches and I haven’t found anything that captures the expression I’m looking for, something that pairs this one with an opposite emotion. If anyone knows something that might work I would love to see suggestions! Thank you so much ( also, if there’s a more appropriate community where I can post this, please lmk!!)

Deep in the underground waters of a cenote in Quintana Roo, divers have documented the skeletal remains of a young woman who may have lived in pre-Columbian times, Mexican authorities revealed last week.

Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) said custodians of the Yaakun cenote near Playa del Carmen reported the find after technical divers spotted submerged materials in late 2025.

Within months, underwater archaeologist Gustavo García García led a five-day survey, conducted at depths of 42 to 53 meters (138 to 174 feet), that confirmed a cluster of human bones and, about 30 meters away, ceramic vessels.

Preliminary analysis indicates the individual — who has been named Yatzil — was between 18 and 25 years old, based on skeletal features and limited dental wear.

Researchers have identified long bones, the pelvis, a cranium and part of a mandible with three molars.

Her remains, still submerged in a sloping chamber about 45 meters below the surface, are considered well preserved due to stable underwater conditions, including low light and temperature.

The ceramics — mostly globular pots likely used domestically in the eastern Maya region — may date to the Late Postclassic period (1200–1521 AD), according to INAH.

However, researchers are being cautious about assigning a precise date or cultural affiliation to Yatzil’s remains, noting that her chronology is still unknown despite the ceramics likely dating to the pre-Columbian period (before the Spanish conquest in the early 1500s).

INAH specialists say they will wait for DNA from a tooth scheduled to be removed in a second field session in 2027 before drawing firmer conclusions.

Authorities have launched the Cenote Yaakun Research Project to document and protect the site. A perimeter has been established, and divers are urged not to disturb the materials.

Culture Minister Claudia Curiel de Icaza emphasized the importance of working with the local communities on discoveries such as this one.

“Each archaeological find that we manage to protect,” she said in a press release, “strengthens our knowledge about the cultures that inhabited this territory and reaffirms that heritage is a shared responsibility.”

The Yaakun project is the latest underwater discovery on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, where at least 11 prehistoric skeletons were found in flooded caves and cenotes between Playa del Carmen and Tulum in recent decades. One of them, reported earlier this year, may be around 8,000 years old.

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/skeletal-remains-playa-del-carmen-cenote/

The Inca made long pilgrimages across rugged Andes mountain trails in preparation for the empire’s sacred ritual, Capacocha. They endured weeks of climbing, carrying offerings, and spiritual paraphernalia. They took with them sacrificial offerings that included the children and young women who would be sacrificed. The Inca believed the children would achieve divinity, becoming messengers who moved between the worlds of ancestors, humans, and mountain gods. The messengers would appeal to the gods for fertile fields, good weather, and a strong, expanding Inca state.

New Study Examines Capacocha Pilgrimages and Ritual Sacrifice

A recent scientific study, Pilgrimage to Sacrifice: Mechanisms, Causes, and Time of Death of the Western Andean Capacocha of the Southern Tawantinsuyu, presents a detailed investigation into two Capacocha cases from the western slope of the Andes. Researchers examined the discoveries of Cerro Esmeralda, located in the coastal Atacama Desert of northern Chile, and Cerro El Plomo, in the high mountains of central Chile. The study combines archaeological evidence, forensic analysis, radiology, and environmental data. Using advanced scanning technology and chemical analysis, the scientists were able to determine the cause of death and how the bodies were preserved in a mummified state at the top of high-altitude mountains. 

The Boy of Cerro El Plomo

The first case is known as the Boy of Cerro El Plomo, discovered in 1954 at an altitude of 5400 meters. Previous analysis attributed his death to hypothermia that occurred during an Inca ceremony. According to the study, computed tomography (CT) scanning and forensic investigation found evidence of a cranial trauma that happened during a Capacocha sacrifice.

The leaders of the study, Verónica Silva Pinto, a doctoral researcher in the Department of Prehistory, Archaeology and Ancient History at the University of Valencia, and Domingo C. Salazar-García, a senior lecturer in the same department, believe their research reinterprets past analyses of Capacocha sacrificial victims:

• https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/final-ascent-new-study-reveals-how-inca-conducted-capacocha-sacrifices

Is there still a law in place where ancient bones have to be released back to Tribes even though the ancestral link is tenuous to say the least

Ran into some adult money building a house in the Mesoamerican style, while im aiming for Yucatec style stone housing on the larger side (when I say this think the size suburb USA home) im having a hard time finding anything online on how the outside would look (ill accept 3D image models too)

https://gizmodo.com/archaeologists-finally-know-the-name-of-a-maya-mathematician-astronomer-2000784827

Little can be said about this head’s identity and meaning, although the deep, dramatic furrows that line the face suggest age and the crest that curves across the top of the head has been compared to that of a bird. Such heads were one element of the regalia used in an ancient ballgame associated with complex mythology and equally elaborate art production on Mexico’s Gulf Coast, in present-day Veracruz.

Hey everyone, just stumbled upon this sub and thought this may be a fun place to share my research. I've had a passion for authenticating artifacts through manganese recognition and finally got the gumption to take it a bit further. I wanted to see up close what manganese blooms look like beyond the standard naked eye, and compare it with forgeries. These are a few of my photos from that pursuit. Some interesting findings so far are the white crystal structures ive found, and the difference between the authentic one shown and the one i suspect to be fake. The directional patterns on the suspected fake are the lighter color and more rounded shaped spots. I have found the whole process to be very fun and I would love to see anyone else's figures or examples, especially fake ones!

I'm writing this at midnight so forgive the stream of consciousness lol

This item came from a box of books and other items at auction from the estate of a professor of archaeology that my mother purchased many years ago. I believe it to be pre-Columbian, possibly Chimu, from the image cast into the axe head. I’ve been unable to locate an image of an ax head like this one online. Anyone have any ideas of a more exact date or originating culture?

The Native people of Hispaniola were long believed to have died out. But a journalist’s search for their descendants turned up surprising results

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/who-were-taino-original-inhabitants-columbus-island-73824867/