Ancient Mayan maize god sculpture found in Mexico / Photo: © INAH/AFP
-
Cheer and tears as African refugee rap film 'Congo Boy' charms Cannes
-
Norwegian Ruud rolls into Italian Open final, Sinner set for Medvedev clash
-
Bolivia government says deal reached with protesting miners
-
Showdowns and spycraft on Trump-Xi summit sidelines
-
Smalley seizes PGA lead with Matsuyama making a charge
-
Acosta quickest in practice for Catalan MotoGP
-
Nuno wants VAR 'consistency' as West Ham fight to avoid relegation
-
Vingegaard powers to maiden Giro stage victory
-
Iran to hold pre-World Cup training camp in Turkey: media
-
US scraps deployment of 4,000 troops to Poland
-
Ukraine vows more strikes on Russia after attack on Kyiv kills 24
-
Bayern veteran Neuer signs one-year contract extension
-
Ukraine can down Russian drones en masse. But missiles are a problem
-
Israeli strikes wound dozens in Lebanon as talks in US enter second day
-
'Everybody wants Hearts to win', says Celtic's O'Neill ahead of title decider
-
Scheffler stumbles from share of lead at windy PGA
-
New deadly Ebola outbreak hits DR Congo
-
Farke calls for Leeds owners to match his ambition
-
Zverev pulls out of home event in Hamburg with back injury
-
Xi, Trump eke small wins from talks but no major deals: analysts
-
De Ligt to miss World Cup after back surgery
-
England's Rice braces for 'hate and love' at World Cup
-
Milan Fashion Week says will ask brands not to show fur
-
French-German tank maker KNDS to push ahead with IPO
-
Man City campaign a success regardless of trophies: Guardiola
-
'World's oldest dog' contender dies in France aged 30
-
No.1 Scheffler opens with bogey to fall from share of PGA lead
-
Carrick says Man Utd future to be decided 'pretty soon'
-
'Out of shape' Lukaku named in Belgium World Cup squad
-
Hearts ready to 'rip up the script' in Celtic title showdown
-
X pledges crackdown on illegal content in UK
-
Possible contenders in UK Labour Party leadership race
-
Germany's Merz says wouldn't advise young people to move to US
-
Israel strikes Lebanon as talks in US enter second day
-
Kyiv in mourning after 24 killed as Ukraine, Russia swap POWs
-
Beckham becomes first British billionaire sportsman
-
Aussie star, Danish clubbing ode through to Eurovision final
-
German Oscar winner Huller feels war guilt 'every day'
-
Thai lawmakers vote to revive clean air bill
-
Bayern warn that Canada's Davies struggling to be fit for World Cup
-
Long-serving Coleman to end Everton career at end of season
-
Energy-hungry German industries in decline since Ukraine war: data
-
Gordon may have made last Newcastle appearance: Howe
-
Denmark's Queen Margrethe has angioplasty in hospital: palace
-
Civilians caught in war of drones in eastern DR Congo
-
French city reels from teen killing in drug-linked shooting
-
NZ passenger from hantavirus cruise quarantines in Taiwan
-
Sci-fi or battlefield reality? Ukraine's bet on drone swarms
-
Russia, Ukraine swap 205 prisoners of war each
-
Southeast Asia's largest dinosaur identified in Thailand
NYSE - LSE
Ancient Mayan maize god sculpture found in Mexico
Archaeologists have uncovered a roughly 1,300-year-old sculpture representing the head of a Mayan maize god in ruins in southeastern Mexico, the National Institute of Anthropology and History said.
The artefact was found in Palenque facing east to west, "which would symbolize the birth of the maize plant with the first rays of the sun," it said in a statement Tuesday.
The sculpture was part of "an offering that was placed on a pond, emulating the entrance of the deity to the underworld, in an aquatic environment," the institute added.
The discovery "allows us to begin to know how the ancient Maya of Palenque constantly relived the mythical passage of the birth, death and resurrection of the maize deity," said researcher Arnoldo Gonzalez Cruz.
As the piece was found in humid conditions, it is in the process of gradually drying out before it is restored, the institute said.
O.Krause--BTB
