sacrum

  • Camelid sacrum in shape of canine
  • 14,000-7,000 BCE
  • Bone
  • Tequixquiac, central Mexico

Camelid Sacrum

  • head of a canine
  • made out of a bone
    • from an alpaca-like species
    • integrated bone shape into work
    • or selected bone for the canine
  • no information on why it was produced

Theories

  • sacrum is supporting bone and very durable
  • sacrum is close to reproductive parts
    • thought to be involved in reproduction by many cultures
      • assumed to channel the seminal fluid
  • known as “resurrection bone”
    • the part that does not decompose when a person dies
    • the bone from which a new human grows
  • contained a spirit of a hunted animal
    • Mesoamerican ethnographic studies
    • very important sacred bone

Formal Qualities

  • natural shape of canine
  • circular spaces were carved to be noses
    • required sharp instrument
  • resembles a sacrum