Figurines from Hacienda Metepec, Teotihuacan, Mexico: a Stylistic Analysis

Teotihuacan figurines, like most Precolumbian ones found throughout Mesoamerica, are statuettes, usaully fashioned to represent human, animal, or anthropomorphic forms. Because they look like something rather human or animal, they are of particular interest to scholars. A study of figurines (or any other of representational art) may provide information about the people who made and used them in a way that studies of, for example, undecorated pot sherds or obsidian tools could never do. Figurines, like utilitarian goods, reflect human activities, but may been further intended to convey in formation about the people themselves. The study of Teotihuacan figurines presents a particular challenge as their association with human behavior is poorly understood. Ordinarily, Teotihuacan figurines are found in fragments in the rubble of abandoned structures of from other secondary deposits, or they are recovered in surface survey. Only occasionally are they associated with burials or caches. No written record by the people of Teotihuacan culture has yet been found to explain when, by whom, or for what purpose the figurines were made