This exhibit focuses on ancient Mesoamerican ceramic figurines from the Olmec, Colima, and Nayarit cultures. These figurines are typical of those made during the  Mesoamerican Formative period, which lasted from 1500 BCE until 250 CE, when small, solid ceramic figurines were hand-modeled rather than made using molds.

The Nayarit and Colima cultures are part of the larger West Mexican cultural group, and the ceramic figurines that they made are believed to reflect both everyday life and ceremonial life. While individual figurines were made for different uses, many figurines were created to be incorporated into sculptures known as ceramic architectural models, which portrayed scenes of people, animals, and structures including homes, ballcourts, and public areas.

The Gulf Coast Olmec cultures, on the other hand, produced ceramic figurines with different types of clothing that reveal particular roles in society, from the simple garb of everyday individuals, to people wearing the padded garments of the widely celebrated Mesoamerican ballgame, to figures wearing symbols of high status or even political power such as large ear spools and elaborate hairstyles or headdresses.

Mesoamerican figurines also served different purposes within their societies.  West Mexican ceramic figurines are commonly found whole and intact in the ceramic architectural model scenes and they are found in burials, suggesting that the figurines were commemorative.  Some West Mexican figurines and most Olmec figurines, however, are found not only in broken form, but broken in areas that are generally the strongest parts of the figurines, such as across the shoulders or the torso. This indicates that they were broken purposefully rather than accidentally, which strongly suggests that the figurines were broken as part of rituals.

This flat, gingerbread-like figurine fragment has protruding male genitalia, which also identifies it as most likely being from the Colima culture, who crafted equal numbers of male and female figurines. While it is very common for ceramics in this region to be discovered in high-status underground burials called shaft tombs, the breakage of this figurine at the middle of the torso suggests that it was instead used in a ritual.  Researched by Akira Alves

While the Nayarit are best-known for their large-scale hollow figurines, they were also skilled at hand-crafting small ceramic redware figurines.  These figurines were made in a variety of styles, but this figurine portrays a common type that is identifiable by the coffee bean eyes, an elongated head, and an ornament wrapped around the forehead. Researched by Akira Alves

This ceramic animal head is very similar to Colima culture depictions of dogs, which are animals that were celebrated throughout Mesoamerica. Small dogs served as pets as well as a source of meat.  However, ceramic dog figures are also found in West Mexican graves, which strongly reflects how dogs were also believed in many Mesoamerican cultures to serve as guides for human souls through the different levels of the Mesoamerican Underworld, their conception of the afterlife. Researched by Akira Alves

This very worn figurine head is made of a redware clay. It is identifiable as made by the people of the late or Epi-Olmec cultures because of its unusual features: Both the mouth and the eyes that were formed by pressing a pellet of clay onto the face and then pressing an implement into each side of the pellet, leaving a raised area in the center of each. Researched by Akira Alves

The overall style and the punctured eyes of this ceramic figurine confirm that it was created by the Olmec of the late Formative period. The sex of the figure is also clear, as the upper torso preserves the figure’s rounded breasts. The elaborate hairstyle or headdress, meanwhile, is typical of high-status female figurines of this period, and the individual’s rank is also emphasized by the large ear spools and the necklace.

This figurine was broken across the torso and wide upper arms of the figure. While accidental breakage commonly appears on the more fragile areas of a figurine, such as at the neck, the joints, or the thinner appendages, breakage through the sturdier parts of a figurine like this suggests purposeful destruction done during rituals.  Figurine fragments such as this one are often found in household refuse, which suggests their use in household rituals such as healing ceremonies. Researched by Akira Alves

For more information, you may contact the researcher(s) noted in the title of this exhibit entry, or Dr. Billie Follensbee, the professor of the course, at BillieFollensbee@MissouriState.edu