There are many distinct groups within the
agglomeration referred to as the Western Mexico
Shaft Tomb (WMST) tradition, foremost among
them the Jalisco, Nayarit, and Colima. Their
relationships are almost totally obscure due to
the lack of contextual information. However, it is
the artworks that are the most informative. All
of the cultures encompassed under the WMST
umbrella were in the habit of burying their dead
in socially-stratified burial chambers at the base
of deep shafts, which were in turn often topped
by buildings. Originally believed to be influenced
by the Tarascan people, who were
contemporaries of the Aztecs,
thermoluminescence has pushed back the dates
of these groups over 1000 years.
Although the apogee of this tradition was
reached in the last centuries of the 1st
millennium BC, it has its origins over 1000 years
earlier at sites such as Huitzilapa and Teuchitlan,
in the Jalisco region. Little is known of the
cultures themselves, although preliminary data
seems to suggest that they were sedentary
agriculturists with social systems not dissimilar
to chiefdoms. These cultures are especially
interesting to students of Mesoamerican history
as they seem to have been to a large extent
outside the ebb and flow of more aggressive
cultures – such as the Toltecs, Olmecs and Maya
– in the same vicinity. Thus insulated from the
perils of urbanization, they developed very much
in isolation, and it behooves us to learn what we
can from what they have left behind.
The most striking works of the Nayarit subgroup
are the ceramics, which were usually placed in
graves, and do not seem to have performed any
practical function. It is possible that they were
designed to depict the deceased – they are often
very naturalistic – although it is more probable
that they constituted, when in groups, a retinue
of companions, protectors and servants for the
hereafter. Just as in other sophisticated social
systems around the world – such as the
Egyptians or Dynastic China – figures were made
to represent the sorts of people and resources
that might be needed in the hereafter. They were
in this sense symbolic of actual people, who
were buried with the deceased as retainers in
more sanguineous Central and Southern
American societies.
The head of this figure is typical of the San
Sebastián
style (a sub-group of Nayarit). The forehead is
very high, while the upper portion balloons
outwards, striated by five ribbed bands. The
figure is nude with his left hand on his knee,
while the right hand is placed over his mouth.
The two back legs upon which he comfortably
sits seem an extension of his body. This sense of
relaxation is further enhanced by the half-closed
eyes, suggesting he may be eating one of a
variety of medicinal or hallucinogenic substances
related to ritual ceremonies. The fact he wears
multiple earspools indicates he was someone of
wealth, possibly a shaman-chief. The delightful
coloration of rich red slip gives the entire figure
a glowing sense of warmth and well being,
brought to life through the expert hands of a
talented sculptor.
