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A giant Mayan masquerade as tall as a somebody has been revealed at an archaeological site in the Mexican body politic of Yucatán .
The masquerade , which depicts the face of an nameless god or elect person , was sculpture from the construction material stucco and dates back to a period inMayahistory known as the Late Preclassic ( about 300 B.C. — A.D. 250 ) , according to the word outletNovedades Yucatán .
The stucco mask of Ucanha being worked on by archaeologists
The find was made in 2017 at the archeological site of Ucanha , near the modern - day urban center of Motul , and since then researchers with Mexico ’s National Institute of Anthropology and History ( INAH ) have worked painstakingly to mend it .
Stucco masks like this one " represent the aspect of individual with finicky features that can be associated with deity or with characters of prominent social status,“INAH allege in a statement .
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The masquerade is a stucco relief , a case of brightly - colored painted carving carve from a background of stucco . The Maya typically placed these masque around stairways with pyramidical base , agree to the statement . archaeologist have come up similar reliefs in Acanceh and Izamal , but this is the first in Ucanha . The discovery is part of on-going research into Mayan mounds constitute at the situation .
The mask was temporarily reburied after its discovery so that the structure was protect until it could be in good order study and preserve . Samples rent from the bodily structure break declension and it was re - excavated in 2018 so that archaeologists could restore it .
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During the renovation and conservation process , archaeologist reinforce fragile part of the masque . They also go sections that had been force out over time back to their original position . They also cleaned the surfaces to highlight the masque ’s patterns and colors .
The archeologist complete the work in 2019 , before reburying the mask for a final time . INAH allege the goal of these effort is to see the foresightful - term conservation of the masquerade party at the website , which does not have effectual protection .
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