In 2019 , Anna Lee Dozier , who lives in Washington , DC , purchase a vase at a local penny-pinching store . The art object , which is richly decorated with Maya - like imagery , was in a clearance sale and only be $ 3.99 . However , it change by reversal out this Maya - same ornamentation was veritable , and the vase is a genuine ancient artefact .
“ It did wait old to me , but not sometime - old , like 20 to 30 twelvemonth old , peradventure , ” Dozier toldNPR .
For Dozier , the vase had special implication even before she knew it was a real artifact . This is because she had work in Mexico for the human right advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide , so the vase come upon her as a reminder of those days .
The vase purchased by Anna Lee Dozier has joined 19 other artifacts that have been returned to the Mexican embassy in Washington, DC.Image credit: SRE
Then , five year later , Dozier visited the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City , and detect that the piece was strikingly similar to some of the other objects on show . Although she was still not win over she had a real Maya object on her hand , she nevertheless decided to consult a museum specializer who then recommended she reach out to the Mexican embassy in Washington . Dozier then place them photos of the vase .
The embassy was extremely mad by what they saw and , after reassert it was a realMayaobject , they requested it back .
“ I am thrilled to have played a part in its repatriation tarradiddle . I would care it to go back to its rightful lieu and to where it belongs , ” Dozier tell WUSA , a CBS affiliate , as cover byNBC 15 News . “ But I also want it out of my home because I have three little boys and I have been petrify that after two thousand years I would be the one to wreck it ! ”
According to a post onX , Mexico ’s embassador to the US , Esteban Moctezuma Barragán , state the vase is a “ valuable looker of our Maya account ” that has been returned “ thanks to the generosity of [ Anna ] Lee Dozier . ”
“ This historical jewel will be reintegrated within the collection of [ Mexico ’s National Museum of Anthropology and story ] to preserve our productive ethnic heritage . ”
The vase itself is recollect to number from the SE of the country and is likely between 1,800 and 1,200 years old . This would rank it within the timeline of theMayaClassical period , which eventually declined due to various factors , including drouth , civic difference of opinion , and eventual seduction by the Spanish .
In add-on to this precious and serendipitous target , the Mexican embassy in the US received 19 other archaeological man that were donated anonymously . These piece will also be retrovert to Mexico where they will be kept in the concern of theNational Institute of Anthropology and account .
All these target will fall in more than 13,500 others that have been recovered in late years as part of the Mexican government ’s scheme of committing itself to recovering artifacts related to its national inheritance that are located abroad .
