Busacca Gallery

A great example of an ancient artifact / A wonderful Head of a Central or south American shard. This was once a part of a full figure ceremonial sculpture. It Looks to be Mayan, The material is made from clay called terracotta. According to archaeology, a sherd, or more precisely, potsherd, is commonly a historic or prehistoric fragment of pottery. Occasionally, a piece of broken pottery may be referred to as a shard. The etymology is connected with the idea of breakage. The analysis of sherds is widely used by archaeologists to date sites and develop chronologies, due to their diagnostic characteristics and high resistance to natural, destructive processes. Archaeologists often classify sherds by the part of the ceramic vessel from which the sherd came. While all types of sherds carry valuable information, sherds are especially informative because they allow archaeologists to determine the objects history.

Elongated Skulls Of The Maya Of Ancient Mexico: Cranial Deformation / cranial deformation were done by the Maya, likely in order to create shapes that differentiated the chiefly rulers from the spiritual class; both being the nobility. This was also the case for the Paracas of Peru, who in fact had up to 5 different styles of head binding. In many museums in Mexico, especially the National Museum in Mexico City, there are many ceramic sculptures, and actual skulls that show what these ancient people looked like. When asked the Maya why they performed artificial cranial deformation. They responded “This is done because our ancestors were told by the gods that if our heads are thus formed, we should appear handsome and better able to bear burdens.” Though this practice existed in colonial times, it was more apparent and likely more widely practiced during the classic Maya period of 250 to 900 AD. In many ancient societies, especially in Peru and Bolivia, cranial deformation via head binding was a practice used to make the nobility look physically different from the general population. Such practices have been found on the 6 populated continents, and some islands in the Pacific. The most famous elongated skulls are those of the Paracas people of the coast of Peru, but the Maya of the Yucatan of Mexico also performed this cultural practice.

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_civilization

The Maya civilization (/ˈmaɪə/) was a Mesoamerican civilization developed by the Maya peoples, and noted for its logosyllabic script—the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in pre–Columbian Americas—as well as for its art, architecture, mathematics, calendar, and astronomical system. The Maya civilization developed in an area that encompasses southeastern Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize, and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador. This region consists of the northern lowlands encompassing the Yucatán Peninsula, and the highlands of the Sierra Madre, running from the Mexican state of Chiapas, across southern Guatemala and onwards into El Salvador, and the southern lowlands of the Pacific littoral plain. The Archaic period, prior to 2000 BC, saw the first developments in agriculture and the earliest villages. The Preclassic period (c. 2000 BC to 250 AD) saw the establishment of the first complex societies in the Maya region, and the cultivation of the staple crops of the Maya diet, including maize, beans, squashes, and chili peppers. The first Maya cities developed around 750 BC, and by 500 BC these cities possessed monumental architecture, including large temples with elaborate stucco façades. Hieroglyphic writing was being used in the Maya region by the 3rd century BC. In the Late Preclassic a number of large cities developed in the Petén Basin, and the city of Kaminaljuyu rose to prominence in the Guatemalan Highlands. Beginning around 250 AD, the Classic period is largely defined as when the Maya were raising sculpted monuments with Long Count dates. This period saw the Maya civilization develop a large number of city–states linked by a complex trade network. In the Maya Lowlands two great rivals, the cities of Tikal and Calakmul, became powerful. The Classic period also saw the intrusive intervention of the central Mexican city of Teotihuacan in Maya dynastic politics. In the 9th century, there was a widespread political collapse in the central Maya region, resulting in internecine warfare, the abandonment of cities, and a northward shift of population. The Postclassic period saw the rise of Chichen Itza in the north, and the expansion of the aggressive Kʼicheʼ kingdom in the Guatemalan Highlands. In the 16th century, the Spanish Empire colonised the Mesoamerican region, and a lengthy series of campaigns saw the fall of Nojpetén, the last Maya city, in 1697.