What is Tlatilco female figurine made of?
ceramic effigies
Sculpted some three millennia ago in the Valley of Mexico, this figurine belongs to a group of ceramic effigies known collectively as the Tlatilco “pretty ladies.” Depicting females with large heads, small waists, and prominent hips, these handheld sculptures present a fairly standardized body type and are typically …
What were Tlatilco figurines made of?
ceramic
Tlatilco figurines are wonderful small ceramic figures, often of women, found in Central Mexico. This is the region of the later and much better-known Aztec empire, but the people of Tlatilco flourished 2,000–3,000 years before the Aztec came to power in this Valley.
What is the purpose of Tlatilco female figurine?
Function: To depict the female figure and signify its importance. Possibly an idol or physical manifestation/representation of a deity.
When was the Tlatilco female figurine made?
Although Tlatilco was already settled by the Early Preclassic period (c. 1800-1200 B.C.E.), most scholars believe that the many figurines date from the Middle Preclassic period, or about 1200-400 B.C.E. Their intimate, lively poses and elaborate hairstyles are indicative of the already sophisticated artistic tradition.
Why does the tlatilco female figurine have two faces?
In 1952 Mexican archaeologist Laurette Séjourné pointed out that the predominant yellow of Tlatilco figurine painting, with highlights in red and black, mirrored the colors of corn and the costumes of later Aztec “corn maiden dancers”; she suggested that many of the figurines represented a maize goddess or young women …
Where is tlatilco?
of Mexico
Tlatilco, which is the Nahuatl word for “place of hidden things,” is an Early Formative period (c. 1200–900 BCE) Mesoamerican site located in the western Valley of Mexico. It consists of three small villages and an extensive cemetery.
What medium is these figurine from?
A figurine (a diminutive form of the word figure) or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with clay, metal, wood, glass, and today plastic or resin the most significant.
What is the purpose of figurines?
They probably had religious or ceremonial significance and may have been used in many types of rituals. Many are found in burials. Some may have been worn as jewelry or intended to amuse children.
What is tlatilco known for?
Tlatilco is known for their ceramic tradition, particularly multiple representations of small-scale female figurines.
Who discovered tlatilco?
Tlatilco was discovered in the 1930s by archaeologist and art historian Miguel Covarrubias, who initiated the first official excavations at Tlatilco, paving the way for four major archaeological seasons at Tlatilco until the site was covered by urbanization of Mexico City in the 1970s.
How can you tell what a figurine is made of?
The easiest way to identify porcelain figurines as opposed to earthenware or stoneware figurines is to examine the piece. Porcelain figurines have a delicate, fragile quality to them and are somewhat translucent, whereas, stoneware or earthenware figurines are not.
What is the difference between a statue and a figurine?
A figurine (a diminutive form of the word figure) or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. The main difference between a figurine and a statue is size.