Unusual Aztec Statue: Xipe Totec

The skin looks very gorilla like, and as pointed out there are no gorillas in the Americas, but were there in the past? Or is there a monkey that would have similar traits to an gorilla?

S&F for you my friend!!!

Some sketchey info on the net about this. You may have seen it before. Anyway I dug it up for ya and I believe the original story behind it is someone shot this guy sometime in the early in 1900s. I think it was Argentina but don't quote me on that.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/daf1a0f22f77.jpg[/atsimg]

Maybe some kind of extinct chimp?

Wow Slayer, you sure come up with some fascinating stuff! That is the most bizarre sculpture I have ever seen. Intriguing!

Fascinating thread and awesome contributions. I personally think it is animal.

Maybe the theory about human skin is just a storyline to make them look more barbaric.

Threads like these that make me wish I had study Archaeology instead of the career I'm in now.

reply to post by randyvs


STAR!

Yeah I thought about that pic before posting this thread. That Monkey desrves more research because it is unusually large compared to other types of a similar known species in South America which is a bit too far south from Mexico.

But, it is a possibility though

reply to post by AlienCarnage


Which raises the question randyvs brought to the table. The possibility of an as of yet unknown species of American Ape that is now extinct?

Alright, let's settle this.

Originally posted by EartOccupant
Just shooting freely here:

Another possibility would be there was another (humanlike) race around at those times, some Neanderthaler like species, wich they used as skin donors.

The Aztec ruled only 500 years ago. There's NO way another Homo species lived at that time. Especially if there are no written records by any other civilization at that time, which there were a lot of, considering that Europe during that time was pretty advanced in terms of record-keeping.

Originally posted by operation mindcrime
Or perhaps the people who made this statue were part of a more moderate streaming within the same religion that didn't believe in sacrificing humans?

Peace

Doubt it. We're talking about the Aztecs here. They're arguably the most brutally religious folks in history, and sacrificed more than the Maya, Olmec, and Inca combined.

So, why is it so hard for people to understand that it may not have been a human skin? Sure, it's known that they usually used human skin clothing as a symbol for renewal. But they also used animal skin clothing as different symbols, such as bird:



And jaguar:



Also, it's known that both the Maya and Aztec cultures ate monkey, so they knew they were around. And the foot on the flayed skin resembles a primate, for sure, but it looks a lot like a spider monkey, which did inhabit the jungles in that area, and still do.

reply to post by SLAYER69


They can imagine bigger and smaller variety of such things. Or, by chance, they could have designed an ape all on their own. If we look at the goelum and other what nots invented elsewhere, they are fairly similar in concept and creation to other things.

You may also find this interesting. Basic idea is that some animals are engraved into our genetic memory because of such long-term exposure to them. Some think that is why scratches on a chalk board bother us. Perhaps a dinosaur sounded like that.

www.themandus.org...

Very interesting stuff indeed. I think there is a ton of evidence of contact between the Western World and Europe, Egypt and Asia so I don't think it is too alarming to see chimp skin. The symbology in the deity is pretty interesting indeed though.

While being on the fence about the man, I can't help but remember something Credo Mutwa (sp) said in one of his interviews about man and how in his original form he was apelike with androgynous (perhaps hermaphroditic?) traits and it was the visitors who put them into a machine that created two separate genders. If that were indeed a larger primate with a pretty ornate looking representation of both male and female biology on the front..... fascinating stuff.

reply to post by Schmidt1989


Well that's always a possibility.
Thanks for the input. It is appreciated.

reply to post by irsuccubus




That is another aspect that makes this piece very interesting.
Seems that there is more here than meets the eye eh?

reply to post by Gorman91


Thanks for the link.
The topic is very interesting. This is why I joined ATS in the first place
All the great feedback and thread contributions.

reply to post by SLAYER69


dude big foot who knows how old that legend really was and how far his territory and just how many there were

for all we know xipe totec could be wearing the remians of one of those.

It looks a bit like alligator feet to me.

Seriously though its probably just an animal skin of some kind. Lots of animals have feet & hands that look like that. To make a huge leap forward, ignoring all the many animals that were around back then in abundance (that they did take skins from sometimes) and to say there was a now-extinct species of ape in that region, is not denying ignorance.

reply to post by SLAYER69


Looks like evolution to me. It represents the animal as well as the human. Like alchemy turning base into higher.

The outer shell is our animal nature, when we shed the material we have then the spiritual awakening.

Love the statue.

reply to post by antar


Oh I'm sure there are possibly many symbolic interpretations that can be made.
I appreciate the feedback. It is bizarre

Anyone thought of a sloth? Were they native to those parts?

reply to post by sussy



Well not to get too far off topic.
The extinct giant ground sloth had large claws similar to the present day tree sloth.
That would have been very obvious IMO.

Just looking at the other pictures of animal skins, they also depicted the animals head. In the picture of human skin, they head is not included. Did they think apes were former humans? Why leave the head off if it was an ape? Curious....