Izapa Stela 5 Coffee Mug

This carved image is from Izapa, a location with many carved images, but not a single text or date. The gods are extracting humans from the world tree. This is Stela 5, dated 300 BC to AD 250. This is an enhanced version, where details are brought out with side lighting. The imagery clearly is from the "Popol Vuh." On either side of the tree are Hunahpu Possum and Great White Peccary; bottom left: Xmucane and Xpiyacoc; right bottom: Sovereign Plumed Serpent. The bottom part of the tree represents the inverted crocodile which first appeared at La Venta, and also on stela 25 at Izapa. After Jason Jones, "Middle Eastern Influence on Mesoamerican Temples" (internet, 2012). This sculpture has not been recognized by archeologists, partially because the Mormons have latched on to it as proof of the early entry into the Americas of the Mormons.