Weekly Archaeological Digest
Artifact Discoveries
Carbon dating of organic inclusions within artifacts from the Atzlan Collection reportedly placed them at approximately 8,600 years before present, with radiocarbon analysis performed at the University of Georgia Center for Applied Isotope Studies and samples collected by Trevor Hawk, identified as the paper’s author [V4]. The artifacts originate from Cerro del Toro in Jalisco, Mexico, and bear paramineralized root structures indicating prolonged burial in mineral-rich soil [V3]. The claimed antiquity is remarkable in that it predates any known civilization in Mexico by several millennia.
However, significant concerns surround these findings. Hawk’s paper has not been peer-reviewed or independently replicated, and he is described as a proponent of ancient alien theories who was reportedly paid by artifact collector Mike Forest to produce his evaluation, though the source maintains payments did not influence the conclusions [V2]. No formal archaeological investigation has occurred at Cerro del Toro—the artifacts were recovered through photographic and video documentation of pieces being pulled from the ground rather than controlled excavation. A competing narrative proposes the site is a cache of artifacts hidden from the Spanish roughly 500 years ago, while stylus evidence suggesting some engravings were made during the gel stage of polycondensation raises questions about whether the dated organic material was introduced during manufacture rather than burial, and the dating claim remains embedded within Hawk’s broader geopolymer authenticity hypothesis characterizing the artifacts as low-temperature ceramics [V1].
A quartz pendant recovered fresh from an active excavation that very morning presents a textbook-typical example of its artifact class, composed of natural mineral stone rather than fired clay, with a characteristic flat bottom and a perforation driven completely through the body — so cleanly bored that pressing the piece released visible air bubbles along the bore channel [V5]. Sediment still clinging to its surface suggests extended burial, and the finders note the piece will require careful cleaning before further study.
The “impacted” nature of the hole is geologically telling: such a perforation in brittle, hard quartz is consistent with percussion drilling, a technique expected to leave conchoidal fracture walls and Hertzian cone initiation points rather than the smoother signatures of abrasive or bow-drilling methods [V5]. Morphologically, the pendant sits within a wider tradition of elongated pierced ornaments documented across the Neolithic and Chalcolithic Near East, where natural pebbles and dense bone were minimally modified with a biconical piercing near one end and a tapered opposite end. Comparable small ornaments of limestone, obsidian, and river pebbles, roughly 11,000 years old, have been recovered at Neolithic Anatolian sites in skeletal contexts near the mandible and temporal bones, consistent with use as ear ornaments or labrets. A formal typology based on the Boncuklu Tarla assemblage argues that such objects served in practices of lasting bodily alteration, with archaeologist Emma Baysal of Ankara citing associated dental surface erosion as evidence of long-term wear.
Sources
- Does anyone have elongated pierced stone “pendants …
- Digs & Discoveries - Neolithic Piercings
- Bodily boundaries transgressed: corporal alteration …
- The 11000-Year-Old Body Piercings of Neolithic Anatolia
- Possible Neolithic Body Piercings Unearthed in Anatolia
- Prehistoric piercings may have been coming-of-age ritual
Videos
V1. DeDunking — “WTF Is Up w/ These Ancient Alien Carvings? Atzlan Collection #alien #ancientmysteries #ancientrelics” V2. DeDunking — “WTF Is Up w/ These Ancient Alien Carvings? Atzlan Collection #alien #ancientmysteries #ancientrelics” V3. DeDunking — “WTF Is Up w/ These Ancient Alien Carvings? Atzlan Collection #alien #ancientmysteries #ancientrelics” V4. DeDunking — “WTF Is Up w/ These Ancient Alien Carvings? Atzlan Collection #alien #ancientmysteries #ancientrelics” V5. Institute for Natural Philosophy — “The Shaman and The Philosopher. Ep.25”
Originally published on Ancient Nerds — explore 750,000+ archaeological sites on our interactive 3D globe.