The "Gate to the Underworld" returns home after a puzzling disappearance for more than 60 years

The long-standing mystery surrounding a 3,000-year-old ancient artifact referred to as the "Gate to the Underworld" has been solved, archaeologists say.

The artifact, called the Olmec Cave Mask, was stolen in the early 1960s from the archaeological site of Chalcatzingo in the central highlands of Mexico.

The smugglers broke the millennia-old mask into several pieces and distributed them around several museums and private collections across the United States before finally returning the complete artifact to Mexico after a 64-year search.

The pieces have made a decades-long journey across the United States. Finally, in 2023, this ancient mask reached the hands of the authorities in New York, and from here the artifact began its journey back to Latin America.

In a press release issued last May, Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) announced that the mask was in a worrying state of disintegration. The institute revealed details of the efforts made by historians to clean and restore the mask, and to ensure that it is in the best possible condition for its return to its original place.

Archaeologists confirmed that the examination of the "Gate to the Underworld" has come to an end, and the artifact will be returned "in the best possible state of preservation to its original place."

The 2,000-pound artifact was manufactured between 800 and 400 B.C. and depicts Tepollotl, the god of earth and cave in Aztec mythology, with large oval eyes, wide nostrils and an open mouth.

The statue is known as the "Gate to the Underworld" to the people of Mexico and comes from the Olmec civilization.

The institute indicated in a press release that some parts of the mask date back 2,700 years, while others are more recent.

The statement added: "Some of the elements that make it up are original, but others, such as the metal structure based on bolts and cement reinforcements and the replacement of missing parts and shapes, were added to give it stability again, even though these techniques and materials were not the same." 

The Olmec cave mask will soon be returned to its “home” in Jantetelco, in the Mexican state of Morelos.

Authorities only discovered that the artifact had been looted in May, after years of confusion over its disappearance.

In fact, the year 2023 was important for the artifact, as as many of the estimated 25 pieces as possible were completed and returned to Mexico. 

In an August 2023 press release from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, officials said the piece resembled the "Tebolotl" commonly depicted as a jaguar, and that the mask was "extremely rare" and was made as early as 800 BC in Mexico.

"The massive Olmec cave mask represents the passage to the other world, guarding the entrance to a ceremonial cave at the archaeological site of Chalcatzingo in Mexico. This stunning ancient piece is a rare window into the past of Olmec society," the statement read.

Olmec artwork is considered the "mother culture" of many other cultures that emerged in the region.