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What is the Tlatilco female figurine?
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 Tlatilco female figure made out 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 …
How tall is the Tlatilco female figurine?
The 9.5 cm tall sculpture depicts a woman with two faces exhibiting an intricate hairstyle, a slim waist, and large thighs. The sculptor of the Tlatilco female figurine is unknown, but one can conclude that the artist was from the people of the Tlatilco culture.
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.
How were the Tlatilco figurines made?
While many Mesoamerican figurines were made using molds, those of the Tlatilco tradition were exclusively hand-made. After shaping with the fingers, details were added to the wet clay with a sharp instrument.
Where is Tlatilco?
western Valley 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.
Who discovered tlatilco?
historian Miguel Covarrubias
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.
Where is tlatilco?
What does a Tlatilco woman look like?
It has long, loose hair indicated down the back to waist level, with breasts and buttocks only faintly indicated. The clay is yellow-tan in color and painted red. 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.”
What color is the Tlatilco figurine?
The clay is yellow-tan in color and painted red. 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.”
What is Tlatilco known for?
By the early twentieth century, however, the fields of clay surrounding Tlatilco had become important sites of brick production utilized in the construction and rapid expansion of the nearby Federal District.
Who discovered the Pretty Ladies?
In 1936, brick workers began unearthing troves of ceramic figurines—later termed “pretty ladies”—that closely resembled others recently discovered by the archaeologist George C. Vaillant (1930).