Skeletal Monkey Dancing with a Snake

This beautiful monument comes from Guatemala's South Coast, was sculpted during the Late Classic period (500 - 900 BC) and depicts an excarnated monkey interacting with a serpent in a way that looks like dancing. Although there are many representations of monkeys, it is unusual to find them skeletal and associated with snakes. Mortuary, skeletal or excarnated characters are also common in Pre-Columbian representations. In this case, hanging innards are clearly observed, which also appear in other examples of this style. These images are related to death and the Underworld.