Pre-Columbian Tarascan Miniature Tripod Bowl, Michoacan

Archives: Regional Art: Americas: Pre Columbian Pre 1492: item #641647

This interesting little tripod bowl comes from the poorly understood Tarascan (or Purepecha) Empire, located in modern day Michoacan in West Mexico. These miniature tripod bowls appear to have been limited to elite burials, and were somehow a part of rituals associated with the official state religion practiced in the capital of Tzintzuntzan. Burial strata positions seem to conclusively date them to the Protohistoric period in Western Mexico (1400-1500 A.D.). However, to my knowledge, the precis... Click for details

Pre-Columbian Tarascan Miniature Bowl, Michoacan

Archives: Regional Art: Americas: Pre Columbian Pre 1492: item #641612

This interesting little tripod bowl comes from the poorly understood Tarascan (or Purepecha) Empire, located in modern day Michoacan in West Mexico. These miniature tripod bowls appear to have been limited to elite burials, and were somehow a part of rituals associated with the official state religion practiced in the capital of Tzintzuntzan. Burial strata positions seem to conclusively date them to the Protohistoric period in Western Mexico (1400-1500 A.D.). However, to my knowledge, the precis... Click for details

Large Pre-Columbian Nayarit Shaft Tomb Figure

Archives: Regional Art: Americas: Pre Columbian Pre AD 1000: item #638999

This sizable Nayarit figure is of a seated cacique, who leans forward attentively with his head cocked at a personable angle. Armand Labbe notes in "Shamans, Gods & Mythic Beasts..." that the seated bench posture is ubiquitous throughout the Pre-Columbian world as a symbol of power, an interpretation further bolstered by the relative scarcity of these pieces compared to other human figures from Pre-Columbian shaft tomb burials. Labbe notes that even today, the bench is an important cultural icon... Click for details

Pre-Columbian Maya Potbellied Figure of a Monkey

Archives: Regional Art: Americas: Pre Columbian Pre AD 1000: item #638716

Monkeys are prominent in Maya art and folklore. For example, the creation myth, the Popul Vuh, describes several failed attempts of the creator gods to create humans from various materials. After the creator gods failed to form people out of mud, they tried making them of wood, but the behavior of these "humans" was so inappropriate that the gods changed them into monkeys as punishment.

Monkeys, however, were also ... Click for details

Pre-Columbian Stone Figure, Mezcala Type M2

Archives: Regional Art: Americas: Pre Columbian Pre AD 1000: item #618924

This is an exceptionally rare Type M2 figure from the Mezcala region of Guerrero, Mexico. This type represents the earliest form of stone figure from Mezcala, which were invariably produced in dark green diorite. All early Mezcala figures were formed by abraiding existing axe heads into human shapes, with the original butt of the axe forming the head and the original blade end adapted into the feet of the figure. Therefore, almost all M2 figures, like this one, are unworked and rough on the top ... Click for details

Rare Pre-Columbian Olmec/Olmecoid Figurine

Archives: Regional Art: Americas: Pre Columbian Pre AD 1000: item #590668

This powerful little creamware figure was created by the Olmec during the Early Formative period. The Olmec culture occupied the southern region of modern Mexico, although their influence on contemporary and later Central American cultures was much more widespread. They dominated this region from roughly 1200-400 B.C. Among their many accomplishments, the Olmec are credited with developing the first writing system in the Americas and may have independently grasped the concept of zero. Importantl... Click for details

Pre-Columbian Colima Seated Figure

Archives: Regional Art: Americas: Pre Columbian Pre AD 1000: item #588844

Colima is one of the tiniest modern states in Mexico, located in the west-central region bordering the Pacific Ocean. Archaeologists refer to the culture that flourished there in ancient times by its modern name since very little information is known about the people themselves. In comparison with the high civilizations of the Olmecs, Maya, and Aztecs, the Colima culture - and other West Mexican sites such as Nayarit, Jalisco, and Mezcala - remains shadowed in relative obscurity. The geography o... Click for details

Pre-Columbian Tlatilco Figure, Valley of Mexico,

Archives: Regional Art: Americas: Pre Columbian Pre AD 1000: item #586163

Tlatilco was a large Pre-Columbian village in the Valley of Mexico, located on the western shore of Lake Texcoco during the Middle Pre-Classic period, ca. 1500-500 BC. The Tlatilco culture (which also included the nearby town of Tlapacoya, where similar figures are found) was heavily influenced by the Olmecs, and even small figures like this one demonstrate some Olmecoid characteristics.

AGE: 1500-500 B.C. ... Click for details

Excellent Maya Tripod Plate with Rattles

Archives: Regional Art: Americas: Pre Columbian Pre AD 1000: item #580586

Deer played such a critical part of the Maya diet that most of the meat eaten by the ancient Maya was venison. In fact, to compensate for overhunting in urban areas, some evidence suggests that Maya women raised deer in the household! Deer were also complicated symbols that served as an animal metaphor for the hunter and warrior due to their speed and agility.

AGE: Classic Period, 600-900 A.D. ... Click for details

Nicoya Ocarina of a Toucan, Pre-Columbian Costa Rica

Archives: Regional Art: Americas: Pre Columbian Pre 1492: item #579656

Costa Rican art is interesting because it displays influences of both Central and South America. Nicoya-Guanacaste pottery is the best known pottery from this region, and it is distinctive for its bold red and black designs. This example is a cute little ocarina (whistle) shaped as a toucan bird with polychrome details. It still has a nice, clean tone, and it has two tone holes that can be covered to adjust the note that it plays. ... Click for details