Pre-Columbian Antiquities from Mesoamerica and Mexico

Mesoamerica is the region extending from central Mexico south to the northwestern border of Costa Rica that gave rise to a group of stratified, culturally related agrarian civilizations spanning an approximately 3,000-year period before the European discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus.

The major Pre-Classic cultures of Mexico were the Olmec and the western cultures of Colima, Jalisco, and Nayarit; Teotihuacán, the Maya cities, the Zapotec center at Monte Albán, and the Classic Vera Cruz culture were the dominant civilizations of the Classic period; during the Post-Classic period important cultures developed among the Toltec, the Tarascan, the Huastec and Totonac, the Mixtec, and the Aztecs.

Fine Mayan Green Jade Head A truly fine example of ancient Mayan jade work, ca 350-650 AD. Apple-green and white jade stone carved into an abstract head - possibly depicting a tapir (or man in... $2,795.00

Rare Aztec Stone Bowl - Flower Form Ancient Aztec art on its own is quite rare... Aztec stone is even more rare (the Spanish conquistadors did a marvelous job of wiping out almost all traces of this... $9,950.00

Valdivia Venus Figure - Ecuador Rare this nice! Although just a fragment, this is one of the finer ancient Valdivian Venus figures we have seen in some time! From Ecuador, ca 3500 - 2000 BC (some of the... $795.00 SOLD

Standing Colima Culture Figural Whistle Interesting and unusual ancient pottery whistle from the Colima region of west Mexico, ca. 200 to 500 A.D. Elaborately decorated standing warrior, holding shield... $395.00 SOLD

Choice Colima Pottery Flat w/ Metate Of the hundreds of Colima flats we have encountered over the years, this is one of the finest and most unusual of the group! From ancient West Mexico, ca 200 BC to 200 AD, $795.00 RESERVED

Many of the ancient Mexican cultures produced ceramic figures and pottery. The site of Tlatilco, in the Valley of Mexico, has yielded famous ceramics of remarkably early date, about 500 B.C. Delicacy of detail characterizes the figurines of Teotihuacán, and the finely decorated funerary urns of Monte Albán are particularly well executed. In the western states of Nayarit, Jalisco, and Colima, early cultures produced an enormously varied array of fanciful and often grotesque terra-cotta figurines and pottery during the Classic period, 300 to 900 A.D. These indigenous civilizations are credited with many inventions in building pyramid-temples, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, writing, highly accurate calendars, fine arts, intensive agriculture, engineering, an abacus calculator, a complex theology, and the wheel: however, without any draft animals, the wheel was used only as a toy. They also used native copper and gold for metalworking.