{"product_id":"the-absent-stone-sandra-rozental-9781478033127","title":"The Absent Stone: Mexican Patrimony and the Aftershocks of State Theft","description":"Where and to whom do ancient things belong? What happens when they are stolen--not by a colonial power, but by a national museum claiming them as state patrimony? What kinds of healing and restitution can follow? In \u003ci\u003eThe Absent Stone\u003c\/i\u003e, Sandra Rozental tells the story of the Piedra de los Tecomates, the largest stone monument in the Americas, popularly identified as the pre-Hispanic rain deity Tlaloc. In 1964, the Mexican state called in the military to forcefully relocate this 167-ton carving from the town of Coatlinchan to Mexico City's National Anthropology Museum. Using in-depth historical and ethnographic research, Rozental traces how the stone's absence continues to affect and unsettle Coatlinchan and its residents decades later, revealing the tensions between patrimony, nationalism, territory, memory, and materiality in Mexico. Questioning the premise that historical artifacts belong in museums under state-sanctioned care, \u003ci\u003eThe Absent Stone\u003c\/i\u003e pushes contemporary critical scholarship on monuments and museum collections beyond the language of law, heritage, and cultural property, demonstrating how ancient things remain bound to the people and places they come from even after they are removed and displayed elsewhere.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Sandra Rozental\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1478033126\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781478033127\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Duke University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/17\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 306\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.98lbs","brand":"Sandra Rozental","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47930562183423,"sku":"9781478033127","price":28.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_4e8d73b1-894f-4a63-b6b1-0ae646e78088.jpg?v=1766342661","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-absent-stone-sandra-rozental-9781478033127","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}