This small object transforms an image of a
person carrying a load into an actual functional
object capable of carrying things as well. The
subject matter of this image follows the Nayarit
tradition of portraying scenes from everyday life.
These simple images, however, often had an
underlying funerary symbolism, appropriate for
their function as effigy figures in shaft tomb
graves. This figure has been depicted with a flat,
rounded, almost heart-shaped face, and thin eye
slits, traits which characterize the Chinesco style
which originated in south western Nayarit.
Towards the end of the pre-classic period in
Ancient Mesoamerica, the regions of Colima,
Nayarit, and Jalisco in Western Mexico became
home to what has now been termed the "Shaft-
Tomb" culture. These people built tombs
consisting of shafts 10-60 feet deep with several
ovoid tombs branching either directly off of the
main shaft at various levels, or connected to it by
lateral tunnels. The burial offerings, which filled
these tombs, have become our greatest link to
this lost culture. The hollow pottery figures
which were commonly placed in the tomb
chambers show stylistic variations between
regions, giving us glimpses into the cultural
differences between these groups as well as the
beliefs, which they held in common.
- (PF.2920)
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