Face / effigy, Middle Classic, ca. 200 - 550 AD ·  Mexico, Teotihuacan · ID: 3053036

Description

translucent natural stone with a faint greenish sheen, with inclusions; reddish traces in the recesses, base

In the past, the stone faces from the Teotihuacan sphere were often described as funerary masks; however, no archaeologically secure burial context has yet been demonstrated. Instead, most finds come from temples, patios, and interior spaces with ritual associations.

The marginal perforations suggest less a wearable mask than a fixed image support - something attached to constructions or bundles and made visible within ritual actions. Their function likely lay in staged display: as the central “face” within a larger ritual arrangement whose efficacy emerged only through fastening and placement.

By analogy with the “theater” incense burners, it is also conceivable that additional ornaments were attached, so that meaning was generated not only by the object itself but by its mode of adornment and presentation.

Comparing literature

Rose, Timothy R. & Jane MacLauren Walsh, The stone faces of Teotihuacan: Insights into their use, manufacture and sources, in: Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (22) December 2018, p. 299-312

Notices

This object is subject to the UNESCO Cultural Heritage Protection Act. Export documents are required for export (subjected to a fee).