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This Jalisco zoomorphic sculpture dates to just
before or after the start of the first millennium
AD, and seems to represent a (mythical?) animal
and its young. It pertains to a group of
archaeological cultures – known almost purely
from their artworks – referred to as the Western
Mexico Shaft Tomb tradition. All of the cultures
encompassed under this nomenclature were in
the habit of burying their dead in socially-
stratified burial chambers at the base of deep
shafts, which were in turn often topped by
buildings. Originally believed to be influenced by
the Tarascan people, who were contemporaries
of the Aztecs, thermoluminescence has pushed
back the dates of these groups over 1000 years.
Although the apogee of this tradition was
reached in the last centuries of the 1st
millennium BC, it has its origins over 1000 years
earlier at sites such as Huitzilapa and Teuchitlan,
in the Jalisco region. Little is known of the
cultures themselves, although preliminary data
seems to suggest that they were sedentary
agriculturists with social systems not dissimilar
to chiefdoms. These cultures are especially
interesting to students of Mesoamerican history
as they seem to have been to a large extent
outside the ebb and flow of more aggressive
cultures – such as the Toltecs, Olmecs and Maya
– in the same vicinity. Thus insulated from the
perils of urbanisation, it behoves us to learn
what we can from what they have left behind,
and
of these remains, it is perhaps the art that is the
most informative.
The arts of this region are enormously variable
and hard to understand in chronological terms,
mainly due to the lack of context. The most
striking works are the ceramics, which were
usually placed in graves, and do not seem to
have performed any practical function, although
highly decorated utilitarian vessels are also
known. It is possible that they were designed to
depict the deceased – they are often very
naturalistic – although it is more probable that
they constituted, when in groups, a retinue of
companions, protectors and servants for the
hereafter.
This funerary vessel would undoubtedly have
held some mythological significance, as it
does not conform to the usual range of figure
types such as warrior protectors and maternity
figures. This pair of seemingly supernatural
creatures must therefore
represent gods, spirits or ancestors.
The first is
a larger individual of uncertain sex in a stolid
pose, kneeling on the right leg, with the left
hand resting on its knee, and the right hand
supporting the second figure. The latter is a
smaller individual perched rather precariously in
the first’s back, craning its neck eagerly over to
its left and its hands resting casually on the
first’s shoulders. Their identity is uncertain. They
either represent humans in animal masquerade,
or mythical animals that held some significance
for the culture that produced them. The anatomy
of their bodies seems to suggest the former, as
they have essentially human torsos and limbs, as
well as what appears to be clothing and
adornment. The masks – if masks they are – are
long and snouted, with a generally rodent/canine
appearance, surmounted by flat-topped,
decorated hats. The deep brown of the ground is
highlighted by the incised decoration detailing
the edges of clothing and the presence of
adornments that include belts and necklaces. As
stated, the postcrania are essentially human,
although forms are addressed as generalities as
it is the heads that appears to have attracted the
largest investment of time and effort from the
sculptor. If they are intended to be dogs, their
manufacture may be linked to the fact that dogs
were seen as the guide to the underworld after
one's death. Less felicitously, they were also
viewed as food items, for which they were
intentionally fattened. While the significance of
the piece may never be known, we can
still appreciate the elegance of its execution.
- (PF.2939 (LSO))
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