Woman buys 'odd-looking' vase for Rs 330, it turns out to be a 2,000-year-old Mayan artefact
Anna Lee Dozier picked up what appeared to be a used vase from a thrift store for $3.99. Only around five years later, during a visit to , the native of Washington, DC, realized that she had an ancient Mayan artefact at home.
When Anna Lee Dozier picked up what appeared to be a used vase from a thrift store for $3.99 (around Rs 330), she had no idea what she was getting. Only around five years later, during a visit to Mexico, the native of Washington, DC, realized that she had an ancient Mayan artefact at home.
Found on clearance sale
According to Dozier, she discovered an interesting vase on the clearance rack of the 2A Thrift Store in Clinton.
Also read: Ordinary Vase Worth $1,900 Sold For $9 Million After Being Mistaken For Rare Artefact
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¡°It looked old-ish, but I thought maybe 20, 30 years old and some kind of tourist reproduction thing, so I brought it home,¡± she said.
Similar objects in Museum
But five years later, during a visit to Mexico, Dozier noticed that some items on display at the Museum of Anthropology looked similar to the vase she had at home. Curious, Dozier spoke to the Museum of Anthropology authorities about the vase she had, and they suggested she contact the Mexican embassy.
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Based on the photographs and the dimensions of the vase, authorities at the embassy identified the vase as a Mayan artifact dating from A.D. 200-800. Dozier, who has worked as a human rights advocate with Indigenous communities in Mexico, then decided to return the vase to its rightful place.
Also read: Woman Returns Artefacts She Stole From Pompeii, Says They 'Cursed' Her For 15 Years
Mayan artefact to be repatriated
She handed it over to the Mexican Ambassador to the US, Moctezuma Barragan, who said it would be repatriated and displayed at the Museum of Anthropology. Dozier said she was happy that the artifact would finally be at a place where it belongs.
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"I am thrilled to have played a part in its repatriation story. I would like it to go back to its rightful place and to where it belongs. But I also want it out of my home because I have three little boys, and I have been petrified¡ªwell, it's gone now¡ªbut I was petrified that after two thousand years I would be the one to wreck it!" she said.
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