The “Tamtoc Venus”: An Early Huastec Sculpture and Its Connections to Gulf Coast Sculptural Traditions

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Sculpture of the Ancient Mexican Gulf Coast, Part 1" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Although the Huasteca belongs to the Mesoamerican culture area and the Gulf Coast region, some scholars have asserted that its culture, emblematized by its sculptural tradition, was isolated. The examination of Huastec stone sculptures from different periods reveals not only its links to other artistic traditions in Mesoamerica but significantly also to other Gulf Coast sculptural traditions. Another misconception is that the sculptural tradition flourished during the Postclassic period. The discovery of sculptures from earlier periods at the site of Tamtoc in the heart of the Huasteca counters this misconception. This presentation will analyze the earliest Huastec sculpture known to date: the fragmented scarified female sculpture discovered in an offering below Monument 32 at Tamtoc, sometimes called “Tamtoc Venus” for its voluptuous, naturalistic body. I will propose an estimated period of manufacture based on artistic criteria and place the sculpture in its art-historical context, relating it both to local traditions of clay figurines and broader regional traditions of Gulf Coast sculpture.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Sculpture of the Ancient Mexican Gulf Coast, Part 1   •
• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32263