Mayan Vase Sold for $4 in US Store Among Antiquities Returning to Mexico

MEXICO CITY—The Mexican government is set to welcome back 20 cultural artifacts that originate from the country’s ancient past, all discovered in the United States, including a Mayan vase over 1,000 years old that was bought for roughly $4 at a thrift store in Washington, D.C.

INAH, Mexico’s antiquities institute, disclosed the repatriation of these centuries-old plates, bowls, and sculpted figures belonging to the Aztec, Totonac, and Teotihuacan cultures in a statement released on Thursday. The artifacts will be returned to Mexico in the coming days.

The focal point of interest is the reddish-white Mayan vase, which was acquired by local resident Anna Lee Dozier for $3.99 from a clearance section of a nearby thrift store around five years ago, according to a report by a Washington, D.C. television news channel on Monday.

Thought to have been crafted during the peak of the Maya civilization between 200–800 A.D., the vase is remarkably well-preserved and features intricate polychrome designs with ornate glyphs and illustrations of seated figures in profile making gestures with their hands.

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Significant Mayan cities rose to prominence approximately 3,000 years ago across southern Mexico and various Central American territories, during a period of remarkable human accomplishments in mathematics, astronomy, and art.

Following a visit to Mexico City earlier this year, Ms. Dozier reached out to Mexico’s U.S. embassy, suspecting that she might possess an authentic artifact rather than the replica she originally believed she had purchased.

Ms. Dozier eventually handed the vase to Mexican authorities in Washington, expressing her belief that the historical piece belonged in its country of origin. She also expressed relief that the ancient artifact was no longer at risk in her home from her two young sons.

“I was petrified that after two thousand years I would be the one to wreck it!”