Weird And Hilarious Ancient Artifacts

Here is a list of some of the weirdest and most hilarious ancient artifacts

A 1800-year-old ceramic horse. Han Dynasty (202 BCE– 9 CE, 25–220 CE), now housed at the Sanxingdui Museum in China

ancient artifacts

Ritual ewer with human face, bronze age China, Shang Dynasty, 1600-1050 BC.

ancient artifacts

Late classic Remojadas style ceramic head from Veracruz, Mexico, ca. 600-800 AD. American Museum of Natural History collection

ancient artifacts

Monumental stone head. La Venta, Mexico, Olmec civilization, 850-750 BC

ancient artifacts

Polychrome standing figure with raised hand. Mexico, Mixtec civilization, 1200-1500 AD

ancient artifacts

Polychrome terracotta mask of Silenus. Roman, 1st c BC. Lázaro Galdiano Museum collection, Madrid

ancient artifacts

A female Sumerian statue found at the Abu Temple in Tell Asmar from c. 2700 BCE.

Ceramic sculpture of a mythological figure in feathered costume. Ecuador, La Tolita culture, 100 BC-100 AD

Ceramic sculpture

Head of an elderly god with blue skin. Mexico, Maya civilization, Late Classic period, 600–909 AD

Maya civilization

Comic mask [clay]. Greek, Roman period [1st c. BCE – 1st c. CE]. Louvre, nr. CA 1941

Comic mask

A Maya mosaic mask, made of wood and stones. Late Postclassic Period, 1200-1520 CE, now on display at the Dumbarton Oaks Museum in Washington, D.C.

Maya mosaic mask

A Maya mosaic mask from the Temple XVIII-A (250–450 CE). This mask is the earliest one discovered in an elite tomb in Palenque. Made of jadeite, albite, obsidian and shell. Now housed at the Palenque Site Museum “Alberto Ruz Lhuillier” in Mexico

Maya mosaic mask

A 3,000-year-old clay pig found in 2020 at the Lianhe Ruins in China. When it was discovered, the pottery has gone viral as it looks similar to the pigs in AngryBirds. Now housed at the Sanxingdui Museum

1,500-year-old Ceramic Maya Figurine with Removable Helmet, from El Perú-Waka’, Petén, Guatemala

Neo-Hittite King Suppiluliuma, 9th century AD, found at the site of Kinalua, the capital city of an Iron Age Neo-Hittite kingdom, Hatay Archaeology Museum, Antakya, Turkey

Image Credit: Carole Raddato

A dancer with a removable crocodile helmet from Mexico – Colima culture, 300 BC – 300 AD