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Mystery at Acámbaro, Mexico: From The Archives
Mystery at Acámbaro, Mexico: From The Archives
vo lu m e 4 7, n u m b er 3 expe d i t i on
In 1952, Charles DiPeso (or Di Peso), an archaeologist affiliated with the Amerind Foundation in Arizona, visited
Acmbaro, studied Julsruds collection, and observed two
excavators at work. He concluded that the figurines were
indeed fakes: their surfaces displayed no signs of age; no dirt
was packed into their crevices; and though some figurines
were broken, no pieces were missing and no broken surfaces
were worn. Furthermore, the excavations stratigraphy clearly
showed that the artifacts were placed in a recently dug hole
filled with a mixture of the surrounding archaeological layers.
DiPeso also learned that a local family had been making and
selling these figurines to Julsrud for a peso apiece since 1944,
presumably inspired by films shown at Acmbaros cinema,
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D I D D I N O SAU R S
Penn Museum