Mezcala Stone Figure, Type M-14, Late Preclassic, circa 300-100 BC

Robust geometric physiognomy gives the present figure a dominating presence. Contrasting vertical and horizontal planes create a grid-like openwork of solids and voids. Figures of the M-14 style are distinguished by the openwork arms and account for only a small number of figures in the extant corpus. Gay notes the style "represents a dramatic conceptual and technical advancement in the ongoing attempt to achieve a viable human image in stone." (Carlo Gay and Frances Pratt, Mezcala: Ancient Stone Sculpture from Guerrero, Mexico, Geneva, 1992, p. 67).

The massive head has prominent brows that cast shadow on the recessed eye area, which sweeps down to the broad facial plane, which is defined by the ridge of the nose. The torso is subtly indicated by the ridge of the ribcage, and oval openings of the arms create the architectural form of the columns seen in Mezcala stone temple models. The figure is carved in fine-grained speckled gray-green andesite.