The past twelve months captured in photographs
Xiuhtecuhtli was the Aztec god of fire, day, and heat, and lord of volcanoes. The mask pictured is of Aztec or Mixtec provenance, and is displayed in the British Museum in London.
This 5th-century golden sun mask was unearthed on La Tolita Island in Ecuador. It can be admired at the Museo Nacional del Banco Central del Ecuador in Quito.
According to legend, the Carnival of Venice started following the military victory of the Venetian Republic over the Patriarch of Aquileia, Ulrico di Treven, in 1162.
This altar mask shaped as a feline head dates back to around the 1st century. It was unearthed at Izapa, a pre-Columbian archaeological site located in the Mexican state of Chiapas.
A bizarre dance mask from Inuit civilization found in the present-day American state of Alaska. It's on display at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen.
A gold funerary mask adorned with pendants and artifacts originating from Peru and dating back to the 4th century and the pre-Inca Chimu civilization. It's exhibited at the Gold of Peru and Weapons of the Wold Museum in Lima.
Originating in 19th-century Thailand, this Rishi mask made from paper would have had a ceremonial use, worn during religious dances and rituals.
Apotropaic magic is a type of magic intended to turn away harmful or evil influences. This Greek mask dating back to 500 BCE would have been worn for that very purpose. It's held in a collection at the Campanian Museum in Capua, Italy.
A 1st- or 2nd-century Roman silver and bronze funerary mask of a man wearing a tiara adorned with busts. It's on display at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum.
The Kuba people from the Democratic Republic of the Congo wear wooden masks like this adorned with a headdress of pearls and shells for ceremonial purposes. This example is on display at the National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden, Netherlands.
Simply crafted and painted wooden masks like this one are still worn today by the Bemba, a large group of Bantu peoples in Zambia.
One of the many treasures unearthed at Jinshu, an archaeological site in Chengdu, capital of China's Sichuan Province. The site flourished around 1000 BCE.
A Kiiappaat mask from Ammassalik Island in southeastern Greenland. The only permanently inhabited settlement on the island is the town of Tasiilaq on the south coast of the island.
The Nzambo tribe occupy Angola's Lower Congo Basin. This initiation mask dates back to the 19th century.
The Abelam are from Papua New Guinea, and are the indigenous peoples of Melanesian. This 20th-century mask is made from basketry and painted with natural pigments.
This kachina ("spirit") mask made of buffalo hide and representing the sun can also be used as a shield during ceremonial dances by the Hopi, a Native American tribe found in the American state of Arizona.
Ceremonial masks worn by soldiers during the Ming Dynasty, the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644.
A mask from the 19th or 20th century worn by stilt dancers at funeral ceremonies of the Punu and Ashira peoples in Gabon.
This painted wooden polychrome mask, featuring coiled cobra disc ear pieces and cobra headdress representing the beaked gurula, is from Sri Lanka and dates back to the 18th century.
A plague doctor, ostensibly a medical physician, would have worn a mask like this as part of a wax-coated protective suit. The mask had glass eye openings and a beak shaped nose, typically stuffed with herbs, straw, and spices. Due to the primitive understanding of disease at the time (17th century), it was believed this suit would sufficiently protect the doctor from miasma while tending to patients.
An example of an early 16th-century iron mask with a grotesque nose piece, molded eyebrows, and furrowed brow. It would have been worn by an executioner.
See also: History's most merciless executioners
Masks became commonplace during the COVID-19 pandemic. They were, and still are, worn by many of us as a means of protection against the coronavirus and other infectious illnesses. But, of course, the mask in one form or another has been around for centuries, normally worn on the face, typically for disguise, defense, performance, or entertainment.
Click through the following gallery and take a look at these amazing examples of masks worn over millennia.
This example dates back to 500 BCE and the Etruscan Civilization, a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. It can be admired at the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia in Rome.
An elaborate Kwakwaka'wakw transformation mask used in ritual dance performances. The Kwakwaka'wakw are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast.
An iron muzzle in an iron framework that enclosed the head, a scold's bridle was an instrument of punishment and a form of torture and public humiliation. It was predominantly used on women, often by request of their husbands.
The so-called gold "Mask of Agamemnon," discovered in Mycenae, Greece. It's exhibited at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
This primitive version of a gas mask, sometimes called a gas hood, was worn by British soldiers during WWI. This photo was taken in Salonika, Greece, in 1916.
This stone mask from the pre-ceramic Neolithic period dates back to 7000 BCE and is probably the oldest mask in the world. It's on display at the Musée Bible et Terre Sainte in Paris, France.
A late 19th-century wooden helmet mask of a human head. It was worn by members of the Sande Society, a women's secret society in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast.
Let's face it: we've been wearing masks for millennia
Magnificent masks from antiquity to the present day
LIFESTYLE Curiosities
Masks became commonplace during the COVID-19 pandemic. They were, and still are, worn by many of us as a means of protection against the coronavirus and other infectious illnesses. But, of course, the mask in one form or another has been around for centuries, normally worn on the face, typically for disguise, defense, performance, or entertainment.
Click through the following gallery and take a look at these amazing examples of masks worn over millennia.