Model Depicting a Ritual Center
Nayarit
100–800 CE
Medium
Earthenware and pigment
Dimensions
21.3 × 35.6 × 33.8 cm (8 7/16 × 14 1/16 × 13 5/16 in.)
Classification
earthenware
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
75238
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
In West Mexico, chiefdoms and statelike societies flourished between A.D. 100 and 800. Advanced agriculture, extensive trade routes, and elaborate religious festivals echoed developments in other regions of ancient Mesoamerica. The distinctive West Mexican sculptures were often included as offerings in tombs that illustrate important themes of life and the afterlife. This model of a circular ceremonial center depicts houselike temples, populated by flute players, a drummer, conch-shell trumpeter...