Roman artefact may change what we know about who really discovered the Americas
Over the centuries it’s always been recognised that Christopher Columbus was the man who discovered the New World, back in 1492.
However, a discovery in the Americas, dating back decades but recently brought back into focus, has sparked debate as to whether the Romans had actually landed there a thousand years earlier.
An 1,800-year-old artefact, known as the Tecaxic-Calixtlahuaca Head, was originally discovered near Mexico City, Mexico, in 1933 inside a sealed, pre-Hispanic burial beneath several intact layers, suggesting it had not been disturbed since it was put there.
Experts have said that the features of the small terracotta head bear greater resemblance to objects from the ancient Mediterranean as opposed to indigenous Mesoamerican traditions.
So much so that one archaeologist, Bernard Andreae, declared in the 1960s that it was ‘without any doubt Roman’.
Further testing on the head has led to suggestions that it predates European contact with the Americas — and could even have been buried there as early as the 15th Century.
Which in turn has given rise to the idea that, while Columbus is credited with discovering America, the Romans may well have been there a thousand years before.
Andreae said at the time: ‘The stylistic examination tells us more precisely that it is a Roman work from around the 2nd century AD, and the hairstyle and the shape of the beard present the typical traits of the Severan emperors’ period [193-235 AD], exactly in the “fashion” of the epoch.’
However, theories on the artefact vary, with many suggesting it would require strong evidence to prove anybody discovered the Americas before Columbus did.
Experts have pointed out the lack of Roman ships or other artifacts in the region to support the claims, while it’s also been suggested the head was brought to the region much later on.
There have even been claims of a hoax, given there are gaps in the records from the 1933 dig led by archaeologist Jose Garcia Payon. Evidence even suggests he was absent for part of the dig, leading to suggestions the head could have been planted there.
However, the fact it was found in a sealed burial site beneath several floor layers points to it having been there for centuries, potentially even before the arrival of Europeans in the early 16th Century.
Some researchers have suggested that ancient ships could have been swept across the Mediterranean by currents, leading to a vessel changing course and reaching the Americas, where its cargo could have been recovered and traded.
This could have meant the artefact was incorporated into cultural or burial practices, leaving no trace of where it originally came from.
Oceanographers have previously said that certain currents – such as the Canary Current and the North Equatorial Current – are capable of transporting debris across large distances, depending on the conditions.
The origins of this particular find at the burial ground are likely to remain a mystery. Despite this, it brings into question how to treat such anomalies.
The idea that Europeans might have visited the New World earlier than thought has long been dismissed by experts.
However, the confirmation in the 1960s that Norse settlements existed at L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada, has suggested the history books may have to be rewritten.