Recovered Coyote Man Sculpture Reveals A Pre-Hispanic Civilization

An important artifact from a pre-Hispanic civilization has been recovered by archaeologists from the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) in Mexico. The statue is a coyote-headed figure on a throne. It was first unearthed 30 years ago in the Llanos de Canícuaro neighborhood in Tacámbaro, Mexico. The artifact was in a private collection until a Mexican federal law was employed to take it away under the premise of preserving a national cultural property. 

According to archaeologist José Luis Punzo, “one of the hypotheses is that the coyote-man sculptures could represent a dynasty that ruled this place, even before the Uacúsecha history was written.”

Image credit: INAH