Ceramic Box Lid (possibly from La Venta)

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This artifact's lid was meticulously scanned with a laser as part of an innovative collaboration between the museum Centro de Investigación de las Culturas Olmeca y Maya (CICOM) and Museo Regional de Antropología Carlos Pellicer Cámarain in Mexico. The box's base, displayed alongside the lid, features incised lines extending from the front of the lid. A personage is depicted on the piece, adorned with ear spools and a pierced buccal region. Red pigment and scrape marks are visible on the ceramic surface. A tripartite motif dominated by maize iconographic elements is prominent in the headdress, showing striking similarities to several celt carvings found at La Venta and a contorsonist depicted on a low-relief carved panel from Guatemala's South Coast, described by Parsons as Late Olmec (900 to 700 B.C.). Fingerprint swirls are noted across the piece's surface. Collins and Doering handled the laser scanning, while Collins and Jorge Gonzalez took charge of 3D modeling.