Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 5, 2025
Rodent Model of Masseter Volumetric Muscle Loss for Studying Bioengineering Materials
Published on: May 31, 2024
A Cross-Disciplinary Study of Facial Asymmetry in a Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican Sculpture: Some Cultural and
Josefina Mansilla-Lory1, Hugo Sandoval2, Arturo Talavera1
1From the Dirección de Antropología Física, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City, Mexico.
Background/Historical Perspective:
Facial asymmetry has been recognized and represented in Mesoamerican and South American pre-Hispanic cultures.
Summary:
This study aims to describe and contextualize an ancient pre-Hispanic stone face carving from the Early Postclassic Period (1200-1500 AD) discovered during excavations for the construction of what is now the National Rehabilitation Institute in Mexico City. The remarkable facial asymmetry of the artifact, suggesting facial paralysis, is a focal point for an interdisciplinary study combining bioarchaeology, anthropology, paleopathology, and rheumatology.
Conclusions:
Although most causes of facial paralysis are idiopathic and pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican populations may have had a higher incidence of infections that could be the leading triggering cause, the potential connection between facial paralysis and rheumatic diseases in pre-Hispanic or pre-Columbian contexts is still a topic of ongoing investigation. This task remains highly relevant for rheumatologists who have traced the history and evolution of rheumatic diseases.
Future Research:
To understand the potential causes of disabilities in ancient societies, a comprehensive, holistic, and transdisciplinary approach is needed, including evidence-based reviews to analyze the relationship between facial paralysis and rheumatic diseases.
Related Concept Videos
01:14Muscles for Facial Expressions
01:22Sutures of the Skull
Sutures are immobile joints between adjacent bones of the skull. The narrow gap between the bones is filled with dense, fibrous connective tissue that unites the bones. The long sutures located between the skull bones are not straight but instead follow irregular, tightly twisting paths. These twisting lines tightly...