The sculpture "The Monster of the Earth" returns to its homeland

The sculpture depicts a legendary mountain and the entrance to a cave in it. Reuters

A huge stone sculpture, created by Olmec artists more than 2000,<> years ago, has returned to evoke the spirit of ancient beliefs, after remaining for decades in the United States, amid the joy of officials and scholars at its return home.

The sculpture, now known as the Monster of the Earth, likely emerged from central Mexico in the 20s and stayed for a while in the hands of collectors, as well as in public exhibitions, before it was found by anti-antiquities agents working with New York prosecutors.

The artifact filled with symbols weighs nearly a ton and was likely found decades before it left Mexico, at an archaeological site in the state of Morelos, just south of Mexico City. U.S. officials coordinated with their Mexican counterparts the return of the sculpture days ago.

Carved from volcanic rock sometime between 800 and 400 BC, at the height of the Olmec civilization, one of the oldest communities in Mexico, lived in close locations on the Gulf of Mexico coast. The Olmec peoples were known for their advanced artistic traditions, including monumental sculptures in the shape of human heads. The sculpture depicts a mythical mountain and the entrance to a cave in the shape of a cross, according to archaeologist Mario Córdova, an Olmec specialist who traveled to the United States as part of efforts to restore the "monster of the earth."