Buccal mask
Encyclopedia
A buccal mask is a mask covering the buccal
area and mouth. Often the mask will also cover the nose, in which case it may also be referred to as a naso-buccal mask.
Buccal masks were a common feature in some ancient Mesoamerica
n cultures and are portrayed on Aztec
, Zapotec
, and Epi-Olmec culture
artwork.
Buccal
Buccal may refer to:* Mouth, a body cavity** Specifically the cheek* Buccal artery...
area and mouth. Often the mask will also cover the nose, in which case it may also be referred to as a naso-buccal mask.
Buccal masks were a common feature in some ancient Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
n cultures and are portrayed on Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
, Zapotec
Zapotec civilization
The Zapotec civilization was an indigenous pre-Columbian civilization that flourished in the Valley of Oaxaca of southern Mesoamerica. Archaeological evidence shows their culture goes back at least 2500 years...
, and Epi-Olmec culture
Epi-Olmec culture
The Epi-Olmec culture was a cultural area in the central region of the present-day Mexican state of Veracruz, concentrated in the Papaloapan River basin, a culture that existed during the Late Formative period, from roughly 300 BCE to roughly 250 CE. Epi-Olmec was a successor culture to the Olmec,...
artwork.