Mezcala culture

Mezcala stone mask at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Greenstone Mezcala mask in the Museo de América in Madrid
Mezcala Temple Model, Walters Art Museum. The Mezcala sculptural style emphasizes geometric abstraction in both human figures and architectural models.

The Mezcala culture (sometimes referred to as the Balsas culture) is the name given to a Mesoamerican culture that was based in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero,[1] in the upper Balsas River region.[2] The culture is poorly understood but is believed to have developed during the Middle and Late Preclassic periods of Mesoamerican chronology,[1] between 700 and 200 BC.[2] The culture continued into the Classic period (c.250-650 AD) when it coexisted with the great metropolis of Teotihuacan.[3]

Archaeologists have studied the culture through limited controlled excavations, the examination of looted artifacts, and the study of Mezcala sculptures found as dedicatory offerings at the Aztec complex of Tenochtitlan.

  1. ^ a b Coe and Koontz 1962, 2002, p.55.
  2. ^ a b López Austin and López Luján 2001, p.88.
  3. ^ Matos Moctezuma 2002c, p.465.

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