Nayarit
MexicoSeated Female, 100 BCE - 250 CE
On view
Terracotta
Dimensions19 1/2 × 9 3/4 in. (49.5 × 24.8 cm)
Gift of Robert Drapkin, 2006.93
Female figures like these were likely placed within large shaft tombs dug deep into the earth. The tombs were used by multiple generations of families, who buried the dead with offerings of ceramic vessels and figures. The role of these figures is uncertain, but some believe that they symbolize deities or fertility icons, while others suspect that they may represent the people with whom they were buried.
