This outstanding example of pre-Columbian stone carving was among the pieces in the Uhde Collection acquired for Berlin in 1862. More stone masks have been found in Teotihuacán, the dominant metropolis in the central Mexican highlands in the classical period (200-700 AD), than in any other region in pre-Hispanic Mexico. For a long time it was assumed that they were burial objects. The few that came to light in scientific excavations were found in the rooms of administrative buildings and temples. The perforations on the ears were probably used to pre-bind the mask of a human figure made of wood, which, when decorated, resembled the precious large stone figures. (M. Gaida 2003)