Camelidsacrumintheshapeofacanine.Tequixquiac,centralMexico.14,0007000B.C.E.Bone.

ByMarrovi(Ownwork)[Publicdomain],viaWikimediaCommons

AsacrumbonefoundinTequixquiac,Mexicoisconsidereda
workofprehistoricart.Itistheearliestknownartfromtheregion
ofMesoamerica.HumanswhohadcrossedtheBeringStraitfrom
AsiainhabitedthetownofTequixquiacin35,000BCE.These
peoplewerenomadic,huntinglargeanimalssuchasmammoths
andgatheringfruitsasevidencedbyarchaeologicalevidencefound
atthesite.Thecarvingistheearliestexampleoftrueartfoundin
theAmericassofar.Thetruepurposeandmeaningofthecarving,
aswellastheculturethatproducedit,remainunknown.
Theartwork,whichhasnoknownpurposebutmayreflectthe
ideologicalsenseoftheartistwhocarvedthepelvisofacamelid.
A camelid isanextinctancestorofacamelthatlivedinthe
Americas.TheTequixquiaccarvingisacarvingrepresentingthe
faceofadog,wolforcoyote.
Afterbeinglostinthelate19thcentury,thecarvedbonewas
rediscoveredin1956.Recentstudiesofthespecimentendto
demonstrateitsauthenticityandscientificvalue.Theageofthe
artifactremainsunclearbecausewedonotknowwhetherthe
carvinghadbeendonesoonaftertheanimal'sdeathorlongafter.
AsurveyofallknownexamplesofsimilarfindsinNorthAmerica
suggeststhattheTequixquiacboneisprobablytheonlyexampleof
trueartthathasyetbeenfoundinPaleoIndianlevelsinNorthand
SouthAmerica.(www.jstor.org)

Citation:

(1965,January1).RetrievedSeptember28,2014,from
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/278808?
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