Editing Mask (section)

== Ritual masks ==
Ritual masks occur throughout the world, and although they tend to share many characteristics, highly distinctive forms have developed. The function of the masks may be magical or religious; they may appear in rites of passage or as a make-up for a form of theatre. Equally masks may disguise a penitent or preside over important ceremonies; they may help mediate with spirits, or offer a protective role to the members of a society who use their powers.<ref name=MasquesduMonde>{{cite book | title = Masques du Monde... L'univers du Masque Dans les Collections du Musée International du Carnaval et du Masque de Binche | trans-title = Masks of the World... The Universe of Masks in the Collections of the International Museum of Carnivals and the Binche Mask | language = fr | first1 = Michel | last1 = Revelard | first2 = Guergana | last2 = Kostadonova | date = 2000 | publisher = La Renaissance du Livre | location = Tournai, Belgium | isbn = 2-8046-0413-6}}</ref> Biologist [[Jeremy Griffith]] has suggested that ritual masks, as representations of the human face, are extremely revealing of the two fundamental aspects of the human psychological condition: firstly, the repression of a cooperative, instinctive self or soul; and secondly, the extremely angry state of the unjustly condemned conscious thinking egocentric intellect.<ref>{{cite book |last=Griffith |first=Jeremy |title=Freedom Expanded: Book 1 – The Human Condition Explained |year=2013 |publisher=WTM Publishing & Communications |isbn=978-1-74129-011-0 |page=145 |url=http://www.worldtransformation.com/freedom-book1-adventurous-adolescentman/}}</ref>

In parts of Australia, giant [[totem]] masks cover the body.

===Africa===
{{See also|African tribal masks}}
[[File:Kamerun Ekoi Aufsatzmasken Linden-Museum 45455 47707.jpg|thumb|Masks of [[Cameroon]]]]
There are a wide variety of masks used in Africa. In West Africa, masks are used in masquerades that form part of religious ceremonies enacted to communicate with spirits and ancestors. Examples are the masquerades of the [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]], [[Igbo people|Igbo]], and [[Edo people|Edo]] cultures, including [[Egungun|Egungun Masquerades]] and [[Northern Edo Masquerades]]. The masks are usually carved with an extraordinary skill and variety by artists who will usually have received their training as an apprentice to a master carver – frequently it is a tradition that has been passed down within a family through many generations. Such an artist holds a respected position in tribal society because of the work that he or she creates, embodying not only complex craft techniques but also spiritual/social and symbolic knowledge.<ref>{{cite book | title = Masks: Their Meaning and Function | first = Andreas | last = Lommel | publisher = Ferndale Editions | location = London | year = 1981 <!-- |orig-publisher = Atlantis Verlag Zurich--> | orig-year = 1970 | page = Introduction, after Himmelheber ''Afrikanische Masken'' | isbn = 0-905746-11-2}}</ref> African masks are also used in the Mas or Masquerade of the [[Caribbean Carnival]].

[[Djolé]] (also known as Jolé or Yolé) is a mask-dance from Temine people in Sierra Leone. Males wear the mask, although it does depict a female.

[[File:Fang mask Louvre MH65-104-1.jpg|thumb|left|[[Ngil mask|Fang mask]] used for the ''ngil'' ceremony, an inquisitorial search for sorcerers. Wood, [[Gabon]], 19th century]]
Many African masks represent animals. Some African tribes believe that the animal masks can help them communicate with the spirits who live in forests or open savannas. People of [[Burkina Faso]] known as the Bwa and [[Nuna people|Nuna]] call to the spirit to stop destruction. The [[Dogon people|Dogon]] of [[Mali]] have complex religions that also have animal masks. Their three main cults use seventy-eight different types of masks. Most of the ceremonies of the Dogon culture are secret, although the antelope dance is shown to non-Dogons. The antelope masks are rough rectangular boxes with several horns coming out of the top. The Dogons are expert agriculturists and the antelope symbolizes a hard-working farmer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cti.itc.virginia.edu/~bcr/African_Mask_Faces.html |title=Faces of the Spirits | first = Benjamin C. | last = Ray |publisher=Department of Religious Studies, [[University of Virginia]] |access-date=30 May 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829092915/http://cti.itc.virginia.edu/~bcr/African_Mask_Faces.html |archive-date=29 August 2012}}</ref>

Another culture that has a very rich agricultural tradition is the [[Bambara people|Bamana]] people of Mali. The antelope (called [[Chiwara]]) is believed to have taught man the secrets of agriculture. Although the Dogons and Bamana people both believe the [[antelope]] symbolises agriculture, they interpret elements the masks differently. To the Bamana people, swords represent the sprouting of grain.

Masks may also indicate a culture's ideal of feminine beauty. The masks of [[Punu people|Punu]] of [[Gabon]] have highly arched eyebrows, almost almond-shaped eyes and a narrow chin. The raised strip running from both sides of the nose to the ears represent jewellery. Dark black hairstyle, tops the mask off. The whiteness of the face represents the whiteness and beauty of the spirit world. Only men wear the masks and perform the dances with high stilts despite the fact that the masks represent women. One of the most beautiful representations of female beauty is the [[Idia]]'s Mask of [[Benin]] in present-day Edo State of Nigeria. It is believed to have been commissioned by a king of Benin in memory of his mother. To honor his dead mother, the king wore the mask on his hip during special ceremonies.<ref>{{cite web | last = Bortolot | first = Alexander Ives | url = http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pwmn_3/hd_pwmn_3.htm | title = Idia: The First Queen Mother of Benin | work = Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | location = New York | publisher = The Metropolitan Museum of Art | date = October 2003 | access-date = 25 March 2007}}</ref>

The [[Senoufo]] people of the [[Ivory Coast]] represent tranquility by making masks with eyes half-shut and lines drawn near the mouth. The [[Temne people|Temne]] of [[Sierra Leone]] use masks with small eyes and mouths to represent humility and humbleness. They represent wisdom by making bulging forehead. Other masks that have exaggerated long faces and broad foreheads symbolize the soberness of one's duty that comes with power. War masks are also popular. The [[Grebo people|Grebo]] of the Ivory Coast and Liberia carve masks with round eyes to represent alertness and anger, with the straight nose to represent unwillingness to retreat.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ohoh.essortment.com/africamasks_rnqe.htm |title=African mask symbolism | first = Wendy | last = Kahler | publisher=Pagewise, Inc. |date=16 May 1986 |access-date=30 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040205063052/http://www.ohoh.essortment.com/africamasks_rnqe.htm |archive-date=5 February 2004 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Asaro Mud Man Kabiufa Papua New Guinea.jpg|thumb|[[Asaro Mudmen|Asaro mudman]] holding mask, Papua New Guinea]]
Today, the qualities of [[African art]] are beginning to be more understood and appreciated. However, most African masks are now being produced for the tourist trade. Although they often show skilled craftsmanship, they nearly always lack the spiritual character of the traditional tribal masks.

===Oceania===
The variety and beauty of the masks of [[Melanesia]] are almost as highly developed as in Africa. It is a culture where [[ancestor worship]] is dominant and religious ceremonies are devoted to ancestors. Inevitably, many of the mask types relate to use in these ceremonies and are linked with the activities of secret societies. The mask is regarded as an instrument of revelation, giving form to the sacred. This is often accomplished by linking the mask to an ancestral presence, and thus bringing the past into the present.

As a culture of scattered islands and peninsulars, Melanesian mask forms have developed in a highly diversified fashion, with a great deal of variety in their construction and aesthetic.<ref>Lommel (1970), chapter: "Oceania: Melanesia, Polynesia, Australia".</ref> In Papua New Guinea, six-metre-high totem masks are placed to protect the living from spirits; whereas the ''[[duk-duk]]'' and ''tubuan'' masks of New Guinea are used to enforce social codes by intimidation. They are conical masks, made from cane and leaves.<ref>{{cite book | title = Where the Masks Still Dance: New Guinea | first1 = Chris | last1 = Rainier | first2 = Meg | last2 = Taylor | publisher = Bulfinch Press/Little, Brown & Co. | year = 1996 | isbn = 0-8212-2261-9}}</ref>

===North America===
[[File:Crooked Beak of Heaven Mask.jpg|thumb|Kwakwaka'wakw ritual mask (painted wood, fiber, and cord)]]

North American indigenous cultures in the [[Arctic]] and para-Arctic regions have tended towards simple religious practice but a highly evolved and rich mythology, especially concerning hunting. In some areas, annual [[shamanic]] ceremonies involved masked dances and these strongly abstracted masks are arguably the most striking artifacts produced in this region. [[Inuit]] groups vary widely and share neither a common mythology nor language. Not surprisingly their [[masks among Eskimo peoples|mask traditions]] are also often different, although their masks are often made out of driftwood, animal skins, bones, and feathers.  In some areas Inuit women use finger masks during storytelling and dancing.<ref>{{cite book | last = Fienup-Riordan | first = Ann | author-link = Ann Fienup-Riordan | year = 1996 | title = The Living Tradition of Yup'ik Masks: Agayuliyararput | publisher = University of Washington Press | others = The [[Anchorage Museum]] | isbn = 978-0-295-97501-6  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=g7N7QgAACAAJ | via = Google books }}</ref>

Indigenous [[Pacific Northwest]] coastal cultural groups generally included highly skilled [[woodworkers]]. Their masks were often masterpieces of carving, sometimes with movable jaws, with the parts sometimes moved by pulling cords, or a mask within a mask to represent a magical transformation. The carving of masks was an important feature of woodcraft, along with many other features that often combined the utilitarian with the symbolic, such as [[shield]]s, [[canoes]], poles, and houses.

Woodland tribes, especially in the northeastern and around the [[Great Lakes]], cross-fertilized culturally with one another. The [[Iroquois]] made spectacular wooden '[[false Face Society|false face]]' masks, used in healing ceremonies and carved from living trees. These masks appear in a great variety of shapes, depending on their precise function.

[[Pueblo]] craftsmen produced impressive work for masked religious ritual, especially the [[Hopi]] and [[Zuni people|Zuni]]. The ''[[kachina]]s'' (gods and spirits) frequently take the form of highly distinctive and elaborate masks that are used in ritual dances. These are usually made of leather with appendages of fur, feathers, or leaves. Some cover the face, some the whole head, and are often highly abstracted forms. [[Navajo people|Navajo]] masks appear to be inspired by the Pueblo prototypes.<ref>{{cite book | first = Norman | last = Feder | year = 1973 | title = American Indian Art | publisher = [[Harry N. Abrams]] | location = New York, NY | lccn = 73-4857}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Masks from North America, from the Edward S. Curtis Collection | department = Gallery | website = American Ethnography (americanethnography.com) | url = http://www.americanethnography.com/gallery.php?id=115 | access-date = 6 July 2010 }}</ref>

In modern immigrant Euro-American culture, masking is a common feature of [[Mardi Gras]] traditions, most notably [[New Orleans Mardi Gras|in New Orleans]]. Costumes and masks (originally inspired by [[masquerade ball]]s) are frequently worn by "[[krewe]]"-members on Mardi Gras Day; local laws against using a mask to conceal one's identity are suspended for the day.

===Latin America===
[[File:Xiuhtecuhtli (mask).jpg|thumb|120px|right|Aztec mask of [[Xiuhtecuhtli]], c. 1500, of [[Mixtec]]-Aztec provenance]]

Distinctive styles of masks began to emerge in pre-Hispanic America about 1200 BC, although there is evidence of far older mask forms. In the [[Andes]], masks were used to dress the faces of the dead. These were originally made of fabric, but later burial masks were sometimes made of beaten [[copper]] or [[gold]], and occasionally of [[clay]].

For the [[Aztecs]], human skulls were prized as war [[Trophy|trophies]], and skull masks were not uncommon. Masks were also used as part of court entertainments, possibly combining political with religious significance.

In post-colonial Latin America, [[pre-Columbian]] traditions merged with Christian rituals, and syncretic masquerades and ceremonies, such as [[All Souls' Day|All Souls]]/[[Day of the Dead]] developed, despite efforts of the Church to stamp out the indigenous traditions. Masks remain an important feature of popular carnivals and religious dances, such as [[Moros y Cristianos|The Dance of the Moors and Christians]]. Mexico, in particular, retains a great deal of creativity in the production of masks, encouraged by collectors. [[lucha libre|Wrestling]] matches, where it is common for the participants to [[wrestling mask|wear masks]], are very popular, and many of the wrestlers can be considered folk heroes. For instance, the popular wrestler [[El Santo]] continued wearing his mask after retirement, revealed his face briefly only in old age, and was buried wearing his silver mask.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wrestlingmuseum.com/pages/wrestlers/elsanto2.html |title=Spotlight on El Santo |publisher=Professional Wrestling Online Museum |date=5 February 1984 |access-date=30 May 2014 |archive-date=21 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140421104627/http://www.wrestlingmuseum.com/pages/wrestlers/elsanto2.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Lommel (1970), chapter: "South America/Central America".</ref>

===Asia===

====China====
[[File:Beijing opera mask.jpg|thumb|right|120px|A [[Peking opera]] mask]]
In China, masks are thought to have originated in ancient religious ceremonies. Images of people wearing masks have been found in rock paintings along the [[Yangtze]]. Later mask forms brings together myths and symbols from [[shamanism]] and [[Buddhism]].<ref name="Emigh-1996"/>
[[File:青铜纵目面具B.jpg|thumb|[[Sanxingdui]] Bronze Mask with Protruding Eyes, [[Shu (state)|Shu]]]]
''Shigong'' dance masks were used in shamanic rituals to thank the gods, while [[Nuo opera|''nuo'']] dance masks protected from bad spirits. Wedding masks were used to pray for good luck and a lasting marriage, and "Swallowing Animal" masks were associated with protecting the home and symbolised the "swallowing" of disaster. Opera masks were used in a basic "common" form of opera performed without a stage or backdrops. These led to colourful facial patterns that we see in today's [[Peking opera]].

====India/Sri Lanka/Indo-China====
Masked characters, usually divinities, are a central feature of Indian dramatic forms, many based on depicting the epics [[Mahabharata]] and [[Ramayana]]. Countries that have had strong Indian cultural influences – [[Cambodia]], [[Burma]], [[Indonesia]], [[Thailand]], and Lao – have developed the Indian forms, combined with local myths, and developed their own characteristic styles.

The masks are usually highly exaggerated and formalised, and share an aesthetic with the carved images of monstrous heads that dominate the facades of [[Hindu]] and [[Buddhist]] temples. These faces or ''Kirtimukhas'', 'Visages of Glory', are intended to ward off evil and are associated with the animal world as well as the divine. During ceremonies, these visages are given active form in the great mask dramas of the South and South-eastern Asian region.<ref name="Emigh-1996">{{cite book | title = Masked Performance | first = John | last = Emigh | publisher = [[University of Pennsylvania Press]] | year = 1996 | isbn = 0-8122-1336-X}}</ref>

====Indonesia====
{{Main|Topeng}}
In Indonesia, the mask dance predates Hindu-Buddhist influences. It is believed that the use of masks is related to the cult of the ancestors, which considered dancers the interpreters of the gods. [[Native Indonesian]] tribes such as [[Dayak people|Dayak]] have masked Hudoq dance that represents nature spirits. In [[Java]] and [[Bali]], masked dance is commonly called ''[[topeng]]'' and demonstrated Hindu influences as it often feature epics such as ''[[Ramayana]]'' and ''[[Mahabharata]]''. The native story of [[Panji (prince)|Panji]] also popular in topeng masked dance. Indonesian topeng dance styles are widely distributed, such as topeng Bali, Cirebon, Betawi, Malang, Yogyakarta, and Solo.

====Japan====
[[File:天狗の面鉄輪温泉PB060289.jpg|thumb|Mask of [[Tengu]]]]

Japanese masks are part of a very old and highly sophisticated and stylized theatrical tradition. Although the roots are in prehistoric myths and cults, they have developed into refined art forms. The oldest masks are the ''gigaku''. The form no longer exists, and was probably a type of dance presentation. The ''bugaku'' developed from this – a complex dance-drama that used masks with moveable jaws.

The ''nō'' or [[noh]] mask evolved from the gigaku and bugaku and are acted entirely by men. The masks are worn throughout very long performances and are consequently very light. The ''nō'' mask is the supreme achievement of Japanese mask-making. ''Nō'' masks represent gods, men, women, madmen and devils, and each category has many sub-divisions. ''[[Kyōgen]]'' are short farces with their own masks, and accompany the tragic nō plays. [[Kabuki]] is the theatre of modern Japan, rooted in the older forms, but in this form masks are replaced by painted faces.<ref>Lommel (1970), chapter: "Japan".</ref>

====Korea====
[[File:A Korean Mask.jpg|thumb|A Korean mask worn by a [[Talchum]] performer]]
{{See also|Korean mask}}
Korean masks have a long tradition associated with shamanism and later in ritual dance. Korean masks were used in war, on both soldiers and their horses; ceremonially, for burial rites in jade and bronze and for shamanistic ceremonies to drive away evil spirits; to remember the faces of great historical figures in death masks; and in the arts, particularly in ritual dances, courtly, and theatrical plays. The present uses are as miniature masks for tourist souvenirs, or on [[mobile phone]]s, where they hang as good-luck talismans.
[[File:Korea-Andong-Hahoe.Village-04.jpg|thumb|traditional Korean masks, [[Hahoetal]] (Kaksi, Yangban and Sonpi)]]

===Middle East===
[[File:Ancient iranian mask.jpg|thumb|right|Golden masks excavated from the [[Kalmakareh Cave]] in [[Lorestan]], Iran, first half of first Millennium BC, [[National Museum of Iran]]]]
Theatre in the Middle East, as elsewhere, was initially of a ritual nature, dramatising human relationships with nature, the deities, and other human beings. It grew out of sacred rites of myths and legends performed by priests and lay actors at fixed times and often in fixed locations. Folk theatre – mime, mask, puppetry, farce, juggling – had a ritual context in that it was performed at religious or rites of passage such as days of naming, circumcisions, and marriages. Over time, some of these contextual ritual enactments became divorced from their religious meaning and they were performed throughout the year. Some 2500 years ago, kings and commoners alike were entertained by dance and mime accompanied by music where the dancers often wore masks, a vestige of an earlier era when such dances were enacted as religious rites. According to [[George Goyan]], this practice evoked that of Roman funeral rites where masked actor-dancers represented the deceased with motions and gestures mimicking those of the deceased while singing the praise of their lives (see '' Masks in Performance'' above).<ref>{{cite book | title = The History of Theater in Iran | first = Willem | last = Floor | publisher = MAGE | year = 2005 | isbn = 0-934211-29-9}}</ref>

===Europe===
[[File:Theatre Olympics 2023 (3).jpg|thumb|Greek mask]]     
[[File:Budēļi.JPG|thumb|[[Meteņi]] [[mumming]] group ([[Budēļi]], Buduļi or Būduļi) of [[Zemgale]] and [[Courland]] regions in [[Latvia]], 2016<ref>{{citation | url = http://www.celotajs.lv/cont/prof/proj/Interreg_IVA-Heritage_Tourism/Documents/Pasakumi/2013/Prezentacija_Meteni.pdf | title = LAUKU CEĻOTĀ – Praktiskais seminārs: "Masku tradīcijas latviešu kultūrā" | trans-title = COUNTRY TRAVEL – Practical seminar: "MASK TRADITIONS IN LATVIAN CULTURE" | language = Latvian | first = Inese | last = Roze | date = April 4, 2013 | publisher = Latvian Country Tourism Association | access-date = February 26, 2016}}</ref>]]
[[File:Venice carnival costume with mask and hat - transparent.png|thumb|A Venetian carnival mask]]

The oldest representations of masks in Europe are animal masks, such as the [[cave paintings]] of [[Lascaux]] in the [[Dordogne]] in southern France. Such masks survive in the alpine regions of Austria and Switzerland, and may be connected with hunting or [[shamanism]]. Masks are used throughout Europe in modern times, and are frequently integrated into regional folk celebrations and customs. Old masks are preserved and can be seen in [[museum]]s and other collections, and much research has been undertaken into the historical origins of masks. Most probably represent [[Animism|nature spirits]], and as a result many of the associated customs are seasonal. The original significance would have survived only until the introduction of [[Christianity]], which incorporated many of the customs into its own traditions. In that process their meanings were changed also so, for example, old [[god]]s and goddesses originally associated with the celebrations were demonised and viewed as mere [[devil]]s, or were subjugated to the [[Abrahamic God]].

Many of the masks and characters used in European festivals belong to the contrasting categories of the 'good', or 'idealised beauty', set against the 'ugly' or 'beastly' and grotesque. This is particularly true of the Germanic and Central European festivals. Another common type is the [[Jester|Fool]], sometimes considered to be the synthesis of the two contrasting types, Handsome and Ugly.<ref name=Mack-1994>{{cite book | title = Masks: the Art of Expression | editor-first = John | editor-last = Mack | publisher = British Museum | year = 1994 | isbn = 0-7141-2507-5 | chapter = The other within: masks and masquerades in Europe | first = Cesayo | last = Poppi}}</ref> Masks also tend to be associated with New Year and [[Carnival]] festivals.

The debate about the meaning of these and other mask forms continues in Europe, where [[monsters]], [[bears]], [[wild man|wild men]], [[harlequin]]s, [[hobby horse]]s, and other fanciful characters appear in carnivals throughout the continent. It is generally accepted that the masks, noise, colour, and clamour are meant to drive away the forces of darkness and winter, and open the way for the spirits of light and the coming of spring.<ref>Lommel (1970), chapter: "Europe/Conclusion".</ref> In [[Sardinia]] existed the tradition of ''Mamuthones e Issohadores'' of [[Mamoiada]]; ''Boes e Merdules'' of [[Ottana]]; ''Thurpos'' of [[Orotelli]]; ''S'Urtzu'', ''Su 'Omadore'' and ''Sos Mamutzones'' of [[Samugheo]]. The celebration of [[Giubiana]] in [[Canzo]] ([[Lombardy]]) preserves a tradition of masks of [[anguane]], [[wild man]], [[Cultural depictions of bears|bear]] and its hunter, and Giubiana herself, among others.

Another tradition of European masks developed, more self-consciously, from court and civic events, or entertainments managed by [[guilds]] and co-fraternities. These grew out of the earlier revels and had become evident by the 15th century in places such as Rome and [[Venice]], where they developed as entertainments to enliven towns and cities. Thus the [[Maundy Thursday]] carnival in St. Marks Square in Venice, attended by the [[Doge (title)|Doge]] and aristocracy, also involved the guilds, including a guild of maskmakers.<ref>{{citation | title = Festivals and Celebrations | first = Roland | last = Auguet | publisher = Collins | year = 1975 | lccn = 73-15299}}</ref> There is evidence of '[[commedia dell'arte]]'-inspired [[Venetian masks]] and by the late 16th century the Venetian Carnival began to reach its peak and eventually lasted a whole 'season' from January until [[Lent]]. By the 18th century, it was already a tourist attraction, [[Goethe]] saying that he was ugly enough not to need a mask. The carnival was repressed during the Napoleonic Republic, although in the 1980s its costumes and the masks aping the 18th century heyday were revived.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/ | title =Cornell University Library Digital Collections | work = Digital Collections | publisher = Cornell University Library}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=January 2021}} It appears other cities in central Europe were influenced by the Venetian model.

During the Reformation, many of these carnival customs began to die out in Protestant regions, although they seem to have survived in Catholic areas despite the opposition of the ecclesiastical authorities. So by the 19th century, the carnivals of the relatively wealthy bourgeois town communities, with elaborate masques and costumes, existed side by side with the ragged and essentially folkloric customs of the rural areas.<ref name=MasquesduMonde /> Although these civic masquerades and their masks may have retained elements drawn from popular culture, the survival of carnival in the 19th century was often a consequence of a self-conscious 'folklore' movement that accompanied the rise of nationalism in many European countries.<ref name=Mack-1994 /> Nowadays, during [[carnival in the Netherlands]] masks are often replaced with face paint for more comfort.

In the beginning of the new century, on 19 August 2004, the [[Bulgarians|Bulgarian]] archaeologist [[Georgi Kitov]] discovered a 673 g gold mask in the burial mound "Svetitsata" near [[Shipka (town)|Shipka]], Central [[Bulgaria]]. It is a very fine piece of workmanship made out of massive 23 [[Fineness#Karat|karat]] gold. Unlike other masks discovered in the [[Balkans]] (of which three are in [[Republic of Macedonia]] and two in Greece), it is now kept in the [[National Archaeological Museum (Bulgaria)|National Archaeological Museum]] in [[Sofia]]. It is considered to be the mask of a [[Thracians|Thracian]] king, presumably [[Teres I|Teres]].