Strange artifact! Can anyone help

[Unusual Tournament]

A strange artifact from the Gulf of Veracruz dated between 600-900 AD. 
 

 

Foind this on Twitter not sure if it’s authentic. Looks like it might be fake

[+and-then]

Reminds me of these beauties from "THE FIFTH ELEMENT"

[Swede]

53 minutes ago, Unusual Tournament said:

A strange artifact from the Gulf of Veracruz dated between 600-900 AD.

Foind this on Twitter not sure if it’s authentic. Looks like it might be fake

1) Source of dating?

2) Might be? (!)

.

[Unusual Tournament]

27 minutes ago, Swede said:

1) Source of dating?

2) Might be? (!)

.

Can’t say. I’ll keep searching 

[Abramelin]

I have an old book, "Pre-Columbian Terracottas" by Alexander von Wuthenau. It's crammed with photos of odd looking terracotta faces and figurines.

But this one (OP) is new to me.

Edited March 11 by Abramelin

[Abramelin]

45 minutes ago, Unusual Tournament said:

Can’t say. I’ll keep searching 

First: there's no Gulf of Veracruz; it's the Gulf of Mexico. If this is not fake news, then probably the sea near the coast of Veracruz is meant.

Second: a find like this would be in several Mexican newspapers, and certainly in tabloids. There's the place to go look first.

[+Hammerclaw]

2 hours ago, Unusual Tournament said:

A strange artifact from the Gulf of Veracruz dated between 600-900 AD. 
 

 

Foind this on Twitter not sure if it’s authentic. Looks like it might be fake

Anthropomorphic representation of Cipactli, Aztec water monster.

[Unusual Tournament]

2 minutes ago, Hammerclaw said:

Anthropomorphic representation of Cipactli, Aztec water monster.

Not sure about that. The time frame is off. Thanks for trying. 

[+Hammerclaw]

27 minutes ago, Unusual Tournament said:

Not sure about that. The time frame is off. Thanks for trying. 

No, the time frame is not off. Most Aztec gods were already thousands of years old when they co-opted them for worship from older cultures. Kukulkan of the Maya = Quetzalcoatl of the Aztec, for instance. 

[Unusual Tournament]

5 minutes ago, Hammerclaw said:

No, the time frame is not off. Most Aztec gods were already thousands of years old when they co-opted them for worship from older cultures. Kukulkan of the Maya = Quetzalcoatl of the Aztec, for instance. 

With only a head of the statue it’s gonna be hard to work out who It represents. What makes you say Aztec water monster?

[Abramelin]

57 minutes ago, Hammerclaw said:

Anthropomorphic representation of Cipactli, Aztec water monster.

The axolotl is named after it:

[Piney]

1 hour ago, Hammerclaw said:

Anthropomorphic representation of Cipactli, Aztec water monster.

I was thinking a Ozomatli, monkey spirits who help other gods.

[Abramelin]

1 hour ago, Abramelin said:

The axolotl is named after it:

Named after Xolotl, after Xolotl's transformation into a water being.

Xolotl:

[+Hammerclaw]

2 hours ago, Unusual Tournament said:

With only a head of the statue it’s gonna be hard to work out who It represents. What makes you say Aztec water monster?

I think it's some kind of fake artifact, myself. It has a fish monster look and that was the deity that came to mind. Doesn't look Olmec, they were into werejaguars. Doesn't resemble anything from that particular time period as far as style goes. Might be an import from somewhere outside of Mesoamerica, or just a modern work.

 

[+Hammerclaw]

1 hour ago, Piney said:

I was thinking a Ozomatli, monkey spirits who help other gods.

I think I'll just call it Dave.

[Taun]

2 hours ago, Hammerclaw said:

I think I'll just call it Dave.

Looks kinda like a blind date I was stuck with back in '73. Her name might have been Dave - I don't know - I didn't stick around long enough to find out.

[MissJatti]

This guy has many body tranformations, see the almost similairty with the OP's photo

[The Puzzler]

3 hours ago, Abramelin said:

Named after Xolotl, after Xolotl's transformation into a water being.

Xolotl:

Sounds good to me.

[quiXilver]

Intriguing piece. 

Perhaps it is just an artist's rendering... a creative expression that doesn't have to have some deep seeded or purpose oriented meaning?

[Ell]

8 hours ago, Unusual Tournament said:

Looks like it might be fake

It looks like an anthropomorphized fish. I.e. a heavenly object.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sidney_Hall_-_Urania's_Mirror_-_Capricornus.jpg

[Oniomancer]

Stylistically looks more African than mesoamerican, or a decidedly non-pc attempt at same. Dollars to donuts this was done the same bunch churning out those fake "ancient alien artifacts".

Maybe they've hooked up with Piney's afrocentrists?

[+Hammerclaw]

7 hours ago, Taun said:

Looks kinda like a blind date I was stuck with back in '73. Her name might have been Dave - I don't know - I didn't stick around long enough to find out.

You dated my ex-mother-in-law? You're a braver man than I, Gunga Din.

[+Hammerclaw]

Africa Zui woman with lip disk.

[Abramelin]

58 minutes ago, Hammerclaw said:

Africa Zui woman with lip disk.

So, you're suggesting that off the coast of Veracruz they found an artifact resembling a person from an African tribe?

Good luck with that, heh.

I found very convincing pics of African looking people in Wuthenau's book about Pre-Columbian terracottas.

 

But, btw., you can find South American tribes practising the same kind of lip mutilation.

[Kenemet]

8 hours ago, Oniomancer said:

Stylistically looks more African than mesoamerican, or a decidedly non-pc attempt at same. Dollars to donuts this was done the same bunch churning out those fake "ancient alien artifacts".

Maybe they've hooked up with Piney's afrocentrists?

I'm also thinking that it looks more African than MesoAemerican