Mysterious sculptures known as “chac mool” intrigue archaeologists and other researchers who cannot discover the origin and representation of these strange figures located in different locations around the world.
Another curious fact is that they are found in different important cultural regions, mainly between Mexico and Costa Rica, in an area known as Mesoamerica. In general, they are found near Toltec temples and archaeological sites.
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Recently, a new sculpture was found in Pátzcuaro, a city in the state of Michoacán, Mexico. The statue was found by chance during construction work.
For decades, the enigmatic statues were the subject of theories and beliefs that did not reach any scientific conclusion, as archaeologist José Luis Punzo Díaz pointed out in an interview with BBC News Mundo.
Now, the researcher is leading the discovery in Pátzcuaro and hopes to obtain scientific clarifications, due to new available technologies and the multidisciplinary group of researchers, with archaeologists, chemists, restorers and specialists in computing.
Chac mool statue from Chichen Itza (1875), on display at the National Museum of Anthropology – Mexico. (Image: Wikimedia Commons/Reproduction)
The first chac mool statue was discovered by archaeologist, photographer and explorer Augustus Le Plongeon. With the support of his wife, the researcher traveled through Mexico in 1875.
During his expedition in search of data on Egyptian culture, he found, by chance, a sculpture of a man in the city of Chichén Itzá. The curious statue It depicted a man looking to the side and holding a bowl on his stomach.
Despite the lack of information about the statue's original name, it was named “chac mool” by Le Plongeon.
The name has a Mayan origin and one of the interpretations translates the term “chac” as “red” and “mool” as “jaguar paw”. Other researchers consider that the term also refers to rain.
In any case, such figures are an enigma for science, which cannot determine the origin of the stone sculptures.
Furthermore, the statues that were found have some differences, such as which side the man is looking at and his position.
Chac mool statue of Pátzcuaro. (Image: National Institute of Anthropology and History/INAH/México/Reproduction)
Therefore, scholars say that one of the biggest problems in analyzing such figures is that the meaning and form change according to “geographical, chronological and cultural location”.
However, a point of agreement among scientists is that the statue has an altar function for sacrifices or offerings in all cultures.
To this day, the oldest chac mool statue is dated between 600 AD. W. and 900 d. W. and was located in Chalchihuites, northern region of Mesoamerica.
This data reinforces the theory of the sculpture's migratory movement, even though it has always been associated with the Mayans.
“Migrations have been the driving force that explains a lot of these things in Mesoamerica. It seems that there are migrations from north to center and west that bring this type of sculptures”, explained José Luis Punzo Díaz.
With information from BBC News World.
