MEZCALA STONE SEATED FIGURE LATE PRECLASSIC, CIRCA 300 - 100 BC

The seated figures of Mezcala and Chontal form a distinct category. They were adapted from river cobbles and never from the axe form seen in the standing figures. They appear in three general postures, including the type exhibited in the present example which displays an upward tilt of the head. As Gay notes "this particular position of the face turned upward cannot be accidental considering the relatively large number of examples. It was instead, probably meaningful within the context of man's relationship with the upper spheres, without necessarily meaning that the figures represented star gazers per se." (Gay and Pratt, Mezcala: Ancient Stone Sculpture from Guerrero, Mexico, Geneva, 1992, p. 107).

This figure is of the M-12 variant style; see Gay and Pratt, ibid., p. 114, pl. 103.