We've dealt with von Wuthenau in the Current Anthropology paper cited above. here is a snippet from a post of mine on this topic elsewhere:

The problem with Von Wuthenau is that none of his figurines have been recovered in a controlled archaological excavation. He bought them and many if not most are fakes. Below is a quote from our recent paper in *Ethnohistory* THEY WERE NOT HERE BEFORE COLUMBUS: AFROCENTRIC DIFFUSIONISM IN THE 1990‚S. Ethnohistory 44 (#2) 1997(with Gabriel Haslip-Viera and Warren Barbour): 199-234. It refers to Van Sertima's reliance on Wuthenau but is more generally applicable. Warren Barbour, Professor of Anthropology at the State University of New York at Buffalo did his Ph.D. on the figurines at Teotihuacan and as an expert in the area of Mesoamerican ceramics has handled and examind thousands of these terracotta figurines.
"Although Van Sertima argues against making comparisons between the large Olmec stone heads and other types of Olmec art, he makes much of an undated private collection of terracotta figurines owned by Alexander Von Wuthenau, the Mexican based art historian. According to Van Sertima, these figurines, and others cited by Von Wuthenau, are supposed to be realistic portraits of "Negroid" people who were present in the Americas at various times during the pre-Columbian period. However, the evidence provided by these figurines is much less persuasive than Van Sertima and his supporters would have us believe. Most if not all of the figurines were purchased rather than obtained from carefully excavated archeological sites. Thus the figurines are not dated and provide no evidence as to their place of origin or provenance. Even more problematical is the fact that a number of Mexican Mesoamericanists, including the past and present Director of the Institute for Anthropological Research at the National University of Mexico, have examined these figurines and declared them to be fakes for the most part (Vargas 1991; Viesca Treviño 1991; Litvak King 1991). One of us (Warren Barbour), a specialist in the study of pre Columbian terracottas, who has handled thousands of these figurines, concurs with this assessment. Von Wuthenau himself (1985: 235), points out that there may be fakes in the private collections that he cites, including his own, but claims that the number would be small.
In any case, Van Sertima does not cite Von Wuthenau with complete accuracy. Von Wuthenau makes a number of assertions that Van Sertima and his supporters are inclined to ignore. For example, Von Wuthenau claims that there was an ancient connection between the Olmecs and the Japanese, and that there was a strong Asian presence in pre-Columbian America which included Chinese with pigtails (1985: 80, 86-87, 92, 93). He also claims that the Mayan ruling class and the ruling elites of Mesoamerica in general were Caucasians from the "classical" period onwards (1985: 174-178). Of course, Von Wuthenau presents no concrete evidence regarding the actual mechanism by which west African "Negroids" could have come to the Americas beyond the credulous acceptance of any and all diffusionist theories from the Mormon's "ten lost tribes of Israel," to Thor Heyerdahl's papyrus raft, and Charles Hapgood's ice age civilization."

Bernard Ortiz de Montellano
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Clyde Winters and other Afrocentrists continue to use Alexander Von Wuthenau’s work to argue for the presence of Africans in the New World before Columbus, but Wuthenau’s “evidence” is extremely weak and unreliable.It is an undated private collection of terracotta figurines. According to his supporters these figurines are supposed to be realistic portraits of "Negroid" people who were present in the Americas at various times during the pre-Columbian period. However, the evidence provided by these figurines is much less persuasive than his supporters would have us believe. Most if not all of the figurines were purchased rather than obtained from carefully excavated archeological sites. Thus the figurines are not dated and provide no evidence as to their place of origin or provenance. I have personal communications from Mexican archaeologists including Dr. Jaime Litvak-King, the past Director of the Institute for Anthropological Research (Instituto de Investigaciones Anthropologicas at the National University of Mexico, which is the premier research institution in Mexico on these topics). Dr. Luis Vargas, the current Director of the Institute, and Dr. Carlos Viesca-Trevino, who is Chair of the Department of Medical History at the National University of Mexico who specializes on the pre-Columbian period. These scholars have personally examined these figurines and declared them to be fakes for the most part (Vargas 1991; Viesca Treviño 1991; Litvak-King 1991). Warren Barbour, Professor of Archaeology at the State University of New York, Buffalo, a specialist in the study of pre-Columbian terracottas, who has handled thousands of these figurines, concurs with this assessment. Von Wuthenau himself (1985: 235), points out that there may be fakes in the private collections that he cites, including his own, but claims that the number would be small. Because Von Wuthenau has bought his figurines rather than done any archaeological work and dug these figurines up in a controlled archaeological excavation, he has no evidence for their origin or their authenticity (there is a flourishing market in fake pre-Columbian artifacts). When artifacts are bought there is an omnipresent danger of getting fake materials. The collections of famous Mexican artists like Diego Rivera and Rufino Tamayo are full of fake stuff.

If one is to believe Von Wuthenau, the New World was overrun by visitors from all over the World and not just Africa. He claims that there was an ancient connection between the Olmecs and the Japanese, and that there was a strong Asian presence in pre-Columbian America which included Chinese with pigtails (1985: 80, 86-87, 92, 93). He also claims that the Mayan ruling class and the ruling elites of Mesoamerica in general were Caucasians from the "classical" period onwards, that is from about 200 A.D. on (1985: 174-178). Of course, Von Wuthenau presents no concrete evidence regarding the actual mechanism by which all these people could have come to the Americas beyond the credulous acceptance of any and all diffusionist theories from the Mormon's "ten lost tribes of Israel," to Thor Heyerdahl's papyrus raft, and Charles Hapgood's ice age civilization.

If in fact there had been all this traffic to the New World, one would expect to find genuine Chinese, Japanese, African, Egyptian, Phoenician, etc. artifacts in controlled archaeological digs with proper dates. None have ever been found. The sole evidence for pre-Columbian contact of this type is L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland where genuine Viking artifacts dating to about 1000 A.D. have been found. Archaeologists have accepted these as evidence that Vikings *did* set foot on these shores. However, the settlement was soon abandoned and there is no evidence that the Vikings had any influence on Native American culture.

References

Von Wuthenau, Alexander
1969 The Art of Terracotta Pottery in Pre-Columbian Central
and South America. New York: Crown Publishers.
1985 América: crisol de las razas del mundo. México:
Editorial Diana.
Bernard