Five years ago, Anna Lee Dozier purchased a vase from the clearance shelf of a Maryland thrift store — then she learned it was actually crafted by the Maya 2,000 years ago.
Anna Lee DozierThe ancient Maya vase purchased by Anna Lee Dozier five years ago .
While at a Maryland parsimoniousness store five years ago , Anna Lee Dozier find what she thought was nothing more than a unspoiled deal : a vase reminiscent of those create by the Maya for just $ 3.99 . She later unwrap the deal was good than she realized . The vase was n’t just reminiscent of Maya pottery — itwasMaya clayware .
It turn out the vase was craft by the Maya between 200 and 800 C.E. , and now it ’s on its way back to its homeland .
Anna Lee DozierThe ancient Maya vase purchased by Anna Lee Dozier five years ago.
An Ancient Maya Vase Found In A Thrift Store
Dozier first came across the ancient vase at the 2A Thrift Store in Clinton , Maryland , where it sit on a headroom ledge with a Leontyne Price tag of $ 3.99 . Dozier was transfixed by the vase , largely because she has done work in the past with Indigenous communities in Mexico as a human rights advocate with Christian Solidarity Worldwide .
“ I could see that it had some variety of liaison to Mexico , in damage of what it looked like , and since it ’s a country that I shape on and it ’s really important to me , I thought it would be just a nice little matter to take home and put on the ledge and to remind me of Mexico , ” she told local NPR stationKVCR .
Esteban Moctezuma Barragán / XThe vase dates back to the Classical period of the Maya civilisation , between 200 and 800 C.E.
Esteban Moctezuma Barragán/XThe vase dates back to the Classical period of the Maya civilization, between 200 and 800 C.E.
Dozier added that she did think the vase front old , “ but not quondam - sometime , like 20 to 30 years old , perchance . ”
The vase sit on a shelf in Dozier ’s Washington , D.C. home for five years . It was n’t until this retiring January , when she bring down the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City while on a work trip , that Dozier begin to enquire if the vase was really much sr. than she thought . Several Maya vases at the gallery bore an uncanny resemblance to the one she had purchased at the thrift store .
“ Some of the things I was looking at look awfully like what I had at household on my ledge , ” she said . “ I still was dubious that it was literal , but just thought it look enough like that that I asked to utter to someone in the [ museum ] offices and just ask , if I had something of interest , what would be the process to authenticate that . ”
Esteban Moctezuma Barragán/XAnna Lee Dozier with ambassador Esteban Moctezuma Barragán at the June 17 repatriation ceremony.
Museum staff enjoin Dozier to connect with the Mexican Embassy when she returned to the U.S. She did , and official there asked for picture of the vase and its dimension .
Shortly after , Dozier state , “ I got an electronic mail saying , ‘ congratulation , it ’s real and we would like it back . ' ”
The Ancient Maya Vase Is Returned To Mexico
Dozier obliged the request and returned the vase to the Mexican government . A ceremony to lionize the artefact ’s repatriation was held on June 17 by the Cultural Institute of Mexico in Washington , D.C. , with Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. Esteban Moctezuma Barragá in attending .
Dozier said there was some sensation of relievo after render the vase . After all , with three youthful boys at home , there was a non - zero chance it could have been damage at any fourth dimension .
Esteban Moctezuma Barragán / XAnna Lee Dozier with embassador Esteban Moctezuma Barragán at the June 17 repatriation ceremony .
“ I am thrilled to have played a part in its repatriation story . I would like it to go back to its rightful plaza and to where it belongs , ” she tell local CBS stationWUSA . “ But I also want it out of my household because I have three little boy and I have been petrify , well it ’s gone now , but I was petrified that after 2,000 years I would be the one to wreck it ! ”
Ambassador Barragá commended Dozier ’s determination to return the vase , say , “ When you have strong roots , you know them and you honor them . She recognise that a whole land , a whole culture like about it , and we are deeply in gratitude with her . ”
After reading about this Maya vase found in a penny-pinching store , learn more about Maya history by learning aboutEl Castillo . Then , discovery , the ancient Maya “ death bat ” god .
