Mexican statue
Video CT scan : 3D translucent VRT view
Sooner or later, figurative stone sculptures are likely to be beheaded, the fragments scattered and slowly buried. When unearthed, for example, in an archaeological dig, the corroded, oxidized stony surfaces may display odd colours.
This is a worry when the fragments are fitted together again. For example, this monolith from the Huastec Culture was already broken at the neck when it was unearthed. Because the colour of the head was slightly different from that of the body, a CT scan study was requested after mending to check the accuracy of the match.
Indeed the scan shows how the break in the neck was mended. The consistency of the density and structure of the stone and the perfect fit of the broken parts confirm that the sculpture was carved from a single block of stone.
The CT study also shows low-density material which highlights the missing tip of both the nose and the upper right ear.
Subtraction of the restoration material gives a view of the piece before restoration (see the the grey figures in the lower right corners above and below).
See, above, the vertical slices along the axis of the iron rod sealed in the cervical hole: they reveal the consistency of the stone density on both sides of the break, the close 3D match between the head and the body, as well as the presence of two veins.
These veins are finite volumes within a rock; they have a distinct shape and are filled with mineral crystals. As a vein is a plane of weakness inside a rock, it seems likely that the break at the neck merely followed the plane of the inferior vein.
Video CT scan : 3D opaque VRT view
Video CT scan : 3D half opaque VRT view
Video CT scan : 3D translucent VRT view
Video CT scan : 2D MPR sagittal slices
