Statue in the Raiders of the Lost Ark?

David_W

New member
In the opening scene of Raiders, the Mexican porter uses a machete to chop away brush from a statue that has bats flying out of it, what the name of that statue?
 

Nosirrah

New member
David_W said:
In the opening scene of Raiders, the Mexican porter uses a machete to chop away brush from a statue that has bats flying out of it, what the name of that statue?
Ummm... since the opening credits say "South America 1936," I could begin by saying that the porter is probably not Mexican.
Funny thing is, there's not much in that scene to suggest South America. The Chachapoyan idol itself is modeled on a pseudo-Aztec forgery.
The bat-infested statue reminds me of a scaled-up Zapotec funerary urn, specifically the bat-god. Here's a typical specimen:
http://www.textilemuseum.ca/cloth_clay/resources/zapotec_001.cfm
If so, somebody did a bit of research AND had a sense of humor. Except that The Zapotecs didn't do monumental sculpture, and Monte Alban, the seat of Zapotec culture, was located in Oaxaca, many miles from the jungle.

Summing up-- if Spielberg & Co. could transport a pseudo-Mexican idol and a pseudo-Mexican statue to South America, why not a pseudo-Mexican porter?
 
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