In the present “Reply …” we discuss a
correction of the thermoluminescence (TL) age limits of an
apparently Roman terracotta head found in Mexico (Hristov and
Genovés 1999), as well two recent objections to the
reliability of the find: (1) that the artifact may have been
imported to the New World after A.D. 1492; and (2) that the head
was “planted” at the archaeological site during the
excavation. The corrected TL age limits oscillate from 2870 B.P. to
730 B.P. (cal. 875 B.C.–A.D. 1265), which excludes the possibility
of Colonial manufacture of the artifact and makes the hypothesis
of its Roman origin and importation into Mesoamerica applicable.
However, an examination of the political and economic relationships
between the Aztecs and the Matlatzincas, as well as the
circumstances of the discovery, make highly unlikely the suggestion
of post-Columbian importation of the artifact into Mesoamerica
(and especially into the Central Mexican Highlands), and of
the “planting” of the figurine at the archaeological
site. Finally, we summarize some recent finds of Berber,
Phoenician, Egyptian, and Roman objects and inscriptions in
the Canary archipelago that strongly support the possibility
of a few sporadic, perhaps accidental, transatlantic voyages
from the Mediterranean to Mesoamerica in antiquity.