Standing male figure "cara sonrientes", ca. 600 - 800 AD ·  Mexico, Veracruz · ID: 3052985

Description

ceramic, holding a rattle, rest.

The significance of these figures - the only cheerful depictions within the otherwise blood-soaked Olympus of the ancient Mexican pantheon - remains unclear. One hypothesis suggests that they represent young people under the influence of intoxicants who, as part of a fertility ritual, joyfully anticipate their sacrificial death and the associated existence in a better afterlife. Many of these figures were also ritually broken.

Comparing literature

Leyenaar, Ted u.a., Von Küste zu Küste, o.O. 1992, p. 125

Notices

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