'Disturbing' 2,000-year-old dolls discovered on top of pyramid by archaeologists
The discovery of the Bolinas figurines, a type of puppet-like artefact, could provide new insights into an ancient society
A pair of intrepid archaeologists from the University of Warsaw made a groundbreaking discovery at the San Isidro site in El Salvador - five ancient clay figurines perched atop a dilapidated pyramid.
This find, detailed in the journal Antiquity, features rare Bolinas artefacts, akin to puppet-like curios, which are incredibly scarce and were previously unearthed at the early Maya Tak'alik Ab'aj in Guatemala.
The figurines date back over two millennia and offer tantalising prospects for shedding light on an olden Mesoamerican civilisation. Carbon-14 analyses confirmed that these pieces hail from between 410 and 380 B.C.E.
These recently unearthed treasures, with mouths agape and ranging from mere inches to a sizeable foot in height, possess an interesting design. The larger ones even have removable heads with apertures suited for strings at their necks and craniums.
Theorising upon their usage, scientists surmise that inserting string through these openings would allow the figures to be animated, much like rudimentary marionettes, reports the Express.
Jan Szymaski revealed his impressions of these historical icons in an interview with ScienceLink's Lizzie Wade, saying: "They are clay actors. When you hold them in your hand, sometimes they even look creepy because of their vivid expressions.
"Very little is known about the identities and ethnolinguistic affiliations of the creators of ancient settlements that predate the arrival of Europeans in the early 16th century. This gets worse the further back in time we look. This finding is only the second such a group found in situ, and the first to feature a male figure."
El Salvador's pre-Columbian past remains shrouded in mystery, especially when contrasted with its Central American neighbours. The country's dense population coupled with countless years of volcanic activity have obscured and even destroyed many potential archaeological sites.
It has been found that artefacts resembling those at San Isidro were also uncovered in parts of Guatemala and other areas in El Salvador as well as Nicaragua, Panama, and Costa Rica; this indicates a possible network between the inhabitants of San Isidro and distant cultures.
The site of San Isidro consists mainly of clay formations, built by an unknown civilisation, and has not yet been fully investigated. Researchers stumbled upon the Bolinas figurines amid the remains at the peak of the site's biggest pyramid-shaped structure.
Researchers are now hypothesising that these versatile Bolinas figurines could've had a significant role in "rituals that would involve recreation of some actual events or mythical events," as explained by Szymaski in a conversation with Benjamin Taub from IFL Science.
Szymaski added: "This discovery contradicts the prevailing notion about El Salvador's cultural backwardness or isolation in ancient times,
"It reveals the existence of vibrant and far-reaching communities capable of exchanging ideas with remarkably distant places."
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