Further Insights into a Late Classic Maya Relief Panel of Unknown Provenance, Repatriated to Mexico in 2025

Abstract

This contribution presents new insights into a Late Classic Maya limestone relief panel of unknown provenance, repatriated to Mexico in 2025. The artifact, intricately carved and culturally significant, likely originated in the Puuc region of the northern Maya lowlands and dates to between 600 and 900 CE. After decades in a private collection in Chicago, the fragment was voluntarily returned to Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) by the heirs of the Sullivan family, in collaboration with the National Museum of Mexican Art. Through extensive provenance research and a close study of the unpublished archive of the late Maya scholar Karl Herbert Mayer (1944-2025), the authors reconstruct the object's post-discovery trajectory and original appearance. Mayer's personal archive—now housed at the University of Bonn as part of the Text Database and Dictionary of Classic Mayan project—includes a previously overlooked photograph showing the complete panel prior to its division. Iconographic and stylistic analysis suggests the panel once formed part of a larger architectural ensemble and shares notable affinities with a second, similarly unprovenanced relief now in the Seattle Art Museum. The study highlights the panel's ceremonial iconography and explores its likely function as a sculpted door element within a temple or palace structure. Beyond its art-historical contributions, the article reflects on the challenges of so-called "partial repatriation" and underscores the enduring importance of archival research in reconstructing fragmented cultural histories. The voluntary return of the panel stands as a significant precedent for ethical stewardship, scholarly collaboration, and the dignified reintegration of cultural heritage.