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What it is : A turquoise - incrust wooden mask from theAztec civilisation
Where it is from : Somewhere in Mesoamerica
A 16th-century mask made out of wood and tiled with turquoise may represent Xiuhtecuhtli, the Aztec god of fire.
When it was made : Between 1400 and 1521
connect : Book of Kells : A 1,200 - twelvemonth - old holograph made by Monk escape the Vikings
What it tell us about the past :
This mask , which is on video display at the British Museum in London , is one of several aqua objects that the Spanish conquistadorHernán Cortéslikely took from the Aztec Empire as treasure in the early 16th one C .
The mask was carved out of Spanish cedar tree and is decorated with peacock blue mosaic pieces , mother - of - pearl eyes rimmed with gold , and conch shell teeth , according to theBritish Museum . The interior is cover in cinnabar , a brick - red mineral that contains mercury . It is about 6.6 inches ( 16.8 centimeters ) tall and has small hole at the temple , suggesting the mask was once worn or stick on to something .
Xiuhtecuhtli , whose name means " turquoise lord " in the Nahuatl terminology , was the Aztec " new fire " god . The Aztecs hold open a " holy fire " continuously burning in the Fire Temple at Tenochtitlan , from which all other fervidness were illumine .
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Once every 52 years , Aztec priests let the flame die out . The high priest , wearing a greenish blue mask represent Xiuhtecuhtli , would then perform aXiuhtlalpilli , or " newfangled fire ceremonial occasion " , which need starting a fire on the chest of drawers of a sacrificial victim . When the flames were gamy , the victim ’s heart was edit out and cast off into the fire . This rite ensure the Aztec civilisation was renewed for another half century . The darker turquoise mosaic pieces on the cheeks and nozzle of the masquerade appear to form a butterfly stroke , another symbolisation of reclamation associated with Xiuhtecuhtli .
But it ’s not clear if the mask was ever fag or if it stage Xiuhtecuhtli . In fact , the mask ’s raised turquoise may picture the wart - faced godNanahuatzin , who , according to Aztec mythology , sacrificed himself to the fire and emerged to become the Dominicus .
