Potbelly sculpture
Encyclopedia
Potbelly sculptures are in the round sculptures of obese human figures carved from boulders, they are a distinctive element of the sculptural tradition in the southern Maya area
of Mesoamerica
. The precise purpose of potbelly sculptures is unknown, although they appear to have been the focus of public veneration and ritual directed by the ruling elite. Although this sculptural tradition is found within the southern Maya
area, it has been recognized that the sculptures themselves are non-Maya.
basalt
, a kind of rock with a combination of large and small grains of mineral that is common along the foothills of Central America
. There are occasional examples of potbelly figures crafted from other materials, such as from ceramic
or from other types of rock.
There are variations on the potbelly theme including complete potbelly sculptures, headless potbellies, some of which may be deliberately headless, and potbelly sculptures that consist of only a bodiless head that are recognised as belonging to the style even though they have no potbelly body. Some potbelly sculptures are wearing collars or clothing while others are apparently naked. There are examples with very prominent navels while other sculptures have no emphasis on the naval at all. Some examples of potbelly sculpture have chest ornaments and some sculptures are seated on pedestals. There are examples of potbelly sculptures corresponding to the general type that are not so obese as is the norm.
Potbelly sculptures vary enormously in size and weight, from the smallest examples that can weigh as little as a few grams and measure 4 centimetres (1.6 in) to monuments that weigh 12 tons and measure 2 metres (6.6 ft).
derived or perhaps pre-Olmec. Olmec culture is judged to have lasted from 1500 BC through to 400 BC based on radiocarbon dating
. Investigations at Santa Leticia were focused on answering the dating problem and securely dated Santa Leticia Monuments 1 and 3 to between 500 BC and AD 100 using a combination of radiocarbon dating and ceramic evidence.
The dating of the monuments to the Late Preclassic
indicate that the potbelly style may be a later derivative of earlier Olmec styles of sculpture, although it does not answer the question of the ethnicity of the sculptors. Potbelly monuments were sometimes reused by later peoples in the region, such as at Sin Cabezas, Copán
and Teopán. Arguing against the theory of potbelly sculpture being an Olmec influenced art form is that the direction of diffusion of the style appears to have been from south to north, while the Olmec heartland
lies to the north, on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico
, which would indicate an expected diffusion from north to south if the Olmecs were indeed the origin of the style.
Potbelly sculptures have been interpreted in a variety of manners. Investigators have theorised that potbelly sculptures represent dead ancestors. Alternatively, they have been associated with babies or with the poorly understood Fat God of Mesoamerican mythology. Potbelly monuments have also been associated with a group of supernatural entities
associated with the domestic hearth
. A further interpretation, based on the sculpture found at Teopán in western El Salvador, interprets potbelly figures as pregnant women at full term, possibly in the very act of giving birth.
One theory is that the sculptures represent deceased individuals with bloated bodies, closed eyes, distended bellies and puffed out faces. The position of the limbs on some monuments, although following the natural contours of the boulder, give an impression of the position of corpses found in later Maya burial bundles. It is possible that Pasaco
Monument 2 and the potbelly from San Juan Sacatepéquez
portray the placement of a jade
bead in the mouth of the sculpture. Although it has been suggested that the monuments themselves are burial markers, only three sculptures have been found directly associated with human remains. One of these is a ceramic potbelly from Colha
in Belize
, the others are from Chalchuapa
and Kaminaljuyu
. However, since most potbelly monuments were not found in their original locations it is impossible to know whether they originally served as burial markers.
An alternative interpretation of potbelly monuments is that they were representations of rulership. This is suggested by the body position represented in the sculptures, the type of adornment sometimes depicted on them, the pedestals on which they sometimes sit and the ceremonial sites where they are found as well as their locations within such sites. The potbelly body position is symbolic of rulership; the figures are seated cross-legged and with the arms wrapping the body or holding an object. Twenty-five potbelly monuments are known to display a collar as neck jewellery, again suggestive of rulership. Pedestal bases are known from potbelly sculptures from Sin Cabezas, Antigua Guatemala
, Kaminaljuyu, Santa Cruz del Quiché
, Takalik Abaj
, Tikal
, Ujuxte
, El Balsamo, Los Cerritos and La Nueva in Guatemala
, Chalchuapa in El Salvador
, and Copán in Honduras
. This represents 42% of sites with potbelly sculptures. If pedestals are equivalent to thrones then Bilbao
Monument 58 is also relevant, which was found associated with a four-legged stone altar or throne and may originally have been positioned on top of it.
The diversity of monuments falling within the potbelly sculptural tradition and the individuality of the monuments support the argument that the monuments represent individual rulers. The monuments may have been viewed by the ancient peoples of the region as a depiction of both rulership and their ancestors.
Potbelly sculptures are distributed along the Pacific
slope of southern Mesoamerica from Chiapas
in Mexico
, through Guatemala to El Salvador, as well as in the Guatemalan highlands. A few examples have been found further afield in the Maya lowlands
of Guatemala and Honduras. A ceramic potbelly figure was found as far away as Colha in northern Belize and has been dated to c.880–600 BC, in the Middle Preclassic
.
The core of the distribution area falls within a humid piedmont
zone with the land consisting of volcanic soil and rubble carried down from the mountains, with naturally occurring basalt boulders of varying sizes that provided a practical raw material for sculpture. Potbelly sculptures are found in prominent ceremonial centres.
Examples have been found at many sites on the Pacific coast of Guatemala including Takalik Abaj, Monte Alto
, Bilbao and El Baúl
. The earliest examples of potbellied monuments have been dated to the Middle Preclassic, with the majority dating to the Late Preclassic.
Well-preserved examples of Late Preclassic potbelly sculptures have been found at Bilbao, on the coastal plain, and at Kaminaljuyu in the Guatemalan highlands. A small potbelly monument has been found at the major Maya city of Tikal in the lowlands of Petén
in Guatemala.
There is some variation in the exact features, those at Kaminaljuyu have fat bodies with short, thick necks and large heads, sometimes wearing a wide collar. The faces are depicted with incised lines and are heavy and coarse. The legs curve around the body parallel to the ground and the arms are clasped against the torso with the elbows bent. Kaminaljuyu has the greatest concentration of potbelly scultures in any site, with several of them found concentrated in the Palangana monument plaza.
Large potbelly monuments have been found at Giralda, a site 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the Pacific coastline.
Potbelly sculptures from Sin Cabezas are stylistically related to Olmec sculpture but were reused by later peoples, being found in fill
dating to the Late Classic
period. The monuments at Sin Cabezas were headless when they were found and no fragments of the missing heads were evident, suggesting that they had already been damaged when they were re-erected by later occupants of the site.
At Takalik Abaj the potbelly style monuments all date to the Late Preclassic. Stylistically, the monuments are very similar to those of Kaminaljuyu and Monte Alto. Seven monuments are potbelly sculptures (Monuments 2, 3, 19, 40, 69, 94 and 117), six of these represent complete figures. Three monuments are small potbelly sculptures (Monuments 100, 107 and 109) and one sculpture is a colossal head in potbelly style (Monument 99).
in the Great Plaza itself and throughout the Copán valley.
In Chalchuapa, potbelly monuments were grouped in the El Trapiche ceremonial centre.
Santa Leticia Monument 1 is a nearly spherical potbelly sculpture and the smallest of the three potbelly monuments at the site, measuring 1.6 metres (5.2 ft) high. Monument 2 is a massive 2 metres (6.6 ft) high potbelly that has been split in half down the middle. Monument 3 is a finely carved potbelly figure with stylistic affinities to some of the sculptures found at Monte Alto in Guatemala, it measures 1.8 metres (5.9 ft) high. All three sculptures measured 1.5 to 2 m (4.9 to 6.6 ft) in height and diameter. The monuments were arranged in a north-south line on a 70 metres (229.7 ft) wide terrace projecting from a hill, Cerrito de Apaneca.
The Teopán potbelly clearly represents a female figure and has been interpreted as the sculpture of a Late Preclassic earth goddess. Teopán itself is a small site located on an island in Lake Coatepeque
in western El Salvador. The site has been identified as that of Late Preclassic Maya settlement. Although the Teopán sculpture has typical Monte Alto-style traits such as closed puffy eyes, no neck, wrap-around arms, a clearly marked naval and grooves forming portions of the nose and mouth, it also includes some unusual features such as clearly indicated breasts, wide hips, buttocks and a 10 centimetres (3.9 in) concavity below the legs. The closed eyelids were later re-carved with the addition of two irregular oval concavities in order to represent open eyes, probably in the Postclassic Period
. The Teopán potbelly is likely to be the idol mentioned by Spanish Colonial official Diego García de Palacio in a letter written in 1576, in which he mentions that the Pipil natives on the island worshipped "a large stone idol in the form of a woman".
Southern Maya area
The Southern Maya Area is a part of Mesoamerica, long believed important to the rise of Maya civilization. It lies within a broad arc or cantilevered rectangle from Chiapa de Corzo, in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in the northwest due south to Izapa and Paso de la Amada, from Chiapa de Corzo...
of Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
. The precise purpose of potbelly sculptures is unknown, although they appear to have been the focus of public veneration and ritual directed by the ruling elite. Although this sculptural tradition is found within the southern Maya
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
area, it has been recognized that the sculptures themselves are non-Maya.
Description
Potbelly monuments are generally crude in-the-round sculptures of excessively fat human figures; they are usually seated cross-legged and have enormous swollen stomachs gripped in the figure's arms and legs. The heads are round and normally have the eyes closed and possess puffy eyelids and prominent lips. The monuments are generally of indeterminate gender and are usually carved from porphyriticPorphyritic
Porphyritic is an adjective used in geology, specifically for igneous rocks, for a rock that has a distinct difference in the size of the crystals, with at least one group of crystals obviously larger than another group...
basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
, a kind of rock with a combination of large and small grains of mineral that is common along the foothills of Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
. There are occasional examples of potbelly figures crafted from other materials, such as from ceramic
Ceramic
A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
or from other types of rock.
There are variations on the potbelly theme including complete potbelly sculptures, headless potbellies, some of which may be deliberately headless, and potbelly sculptures that consist of only a bodiless head that are recognised as belonging to the style even though they have no potbelly body. Some potbelly sculptures are wearing collars or clothing while others are apparently naked. There are examples with very prominent navels while other sculptures have no emphasis on the naval at all. Some examples of potbelly sculpture have chest ornaments and some sculptures are seated on pedestals. There are examples of potbelly sculptures corresponding to the general type that are not so obese as is the norm.
Potbelly sculptures vary enormously in size and weight, from the smallest examples that can weigh as little as a few grams and measure 4 centimetres (1.6 in) to monuments that weigh 12 tons and measure 2 metres (6.6 ft).
Dating
The dating of potbelly sculptures has been problematic with few of the earlier known sculptures being found in their original context. Investigators from the 1950s through to the 1970s argued that the style was OlmecOlmec
The Olmec were the first major Pre-Columbian civilization in Mexico. They lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco....
derived or perhaps pre-Olmec. Olmec culture is judged to have lasted from 1500 BC through to 400 BC based on radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present" ,...
. Investigations at Santa Leticia were focused on answering the dating problem and securely dated Santa Leticia Monuments 1 and 3 to between 500 BC and AD 100 using a combination of radiocarbon dating and ceramic evidence.
The dating of the monuments to the Late Preclassic
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
indicate that the potbelly style may be a later derivative of earlier Olmec styles of sculpture, although it does not answer the question of the ethnicity of the sculptors. Potbelly monuments were sometimes reused by later peoples in the region, such as at Sin Cabezas, Copán
Copán
Copán is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in the Copán Department of western Honduras, not far from the border with Guatemala. It was the capital city of a major Classic period kingdom from the 5th to 9th centuries AD...
and Teopán. Arguing against the theory of potbelly sculpture being an Olmec influenced art form is that the direction of diffusion of the style appears to have been from south to north, while the Olmec heartland
Olmec heartland
The Olmec heartland is the southern portion of Mexico's Gulf Coast region between the Tuxtla mountains and the Olmec archaeological site of La Venta, extending roughly 80 km inland from the Gulf of Mexico coastline at its deepest...
lies to the north, on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
, which would indicate an expected diffusion from north to south if the Olmecs were indeed the origin of the style.
Interpretation
Household deity
A household deity is a deity or spirit that protects the home, looking after the entire household or certain key members. It has been a common belief in pagan religions as well as in folklore across many parts of the world....
associated with the domestic hearth
Hearth
In common historic and modern usage, a hearth is a brick- or stone-lined fireplace or oven often used for cooking and/or heating. For centuries, the hearth was considered an integral part of a home, often its central or most important feature...
. A further interpretation, based on the sculpture found at Teopán in western El Salvador, interprets potbelly figures as pregnant women at full term, possibly in the very act of giving birth.
One theory is that the sculptures represent deceased individuals with bloated bodies, closed eyes, distended bellies and puffed out faces. The position of the limbs on some monuments, although following the natural contours of the boulder, give an impression of the position of corpses found in later Maya burial bundles. It is possible that Pasaco
Pasaco
Pasaco is a municipality in the Jutiapa department of Guatemala, located near the Pacific Ocean on the Border with El Salvador. It was originally formed when a group of Aztecs broke off at the arrival of Hernán Cortés, and went further south into what is now Guatemala...
Monument 2 and the potbelly from San Juan Sacatepéquez
San Juan Sacatepéquez
San Juan Sacatepéquez is a municipality in the Guatemala department of Guatemala, northwest of Guatemala City. According to the 2002 census, it had a population of 81,584. The city is known for flower-growing and wooden furniture.-See also:*Chajoma...
portray the placement of a jade
Jade
Jade is an ornamental stone.The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:...
bead in the mouth of the sculpture. Although it has been suggested that the monuments themselves are burial markers, only three sculptures have been found directly associated with human remains. One of these is a ceramic potbelly from Colha
Colha, Belize
Colha, Belize is a Maya archaeological site located in northern portion of the country, about 52 km. north of Belize City, near the city of Orange Walk. The site is one of the earliest in the Maya region and remains important to the archaeological record of the Maya culture well into the...
in Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
, the others are from Chalchuapa
Chalchuapa
Chalchuapa is a town and a municipality located in the Santa Ana department of El Salvador. The city of Chalchuapa is in a wide valley at 650 meters above sea level, and watered by the Pampe River.- Overview :...
and Kaminaljuyu
Kaminaljuyu
Kaminaljuyu is a Pre-Columbian site of the Maya civilization that was primarily occupied from 1500 BC to AD 1200. Kaminaljuyu has been described as one of the greatest of all archaeological sites in the New World by Michael Coe, although its remains today - a few mounds only - are far less...
. However, since most potbelly monuments were not found in their original locations it is impossible to know whether they originally served as burial markers.
An alternative interpretation of potbelly monuments is that they were representations of rulership. This is suggested by the body position represented in the sculptures, the type of adornment sometimes depicted on them, the pedestals on which they sometimes sit and the ceremonial sites where they are found as well as their locations within such sites. The potbelly body position is symbolic of rulership; the figures are seated cross-legged and with the arms wrapping the body or holding an object. Twenty-five potbelly monuments are known to display a collar as neck jewellery, again suggestive of rulership. Pedestal bases are known from potbelly sculptures from Sin Cabezas, Antigua Guatemala
Antigua Guatemala
Antigua Guatemala is a city in the central highlands of Guatemala famous for its well-preserved Spanish Mudéjar-influenced Baroque architecture as well as a number of spectacular ruins of colonial churches...
, Kaminaljuyu, Santa Cruz del Quiché
Santa Cruz del Quiché
Santa Cruz del Quiché is a city in Guatemala. It serves as the capital of El Quiché department and the municipal seat of Santa Cruz del Quiché municipality.The city is located at , at an elevation of 2,021 m above sea level...
, Takalik Abaj
Takalik Abaj
Tak'alik Ab'aj is a pre-Columbian archaeological site in Guatemala; it was formerly known as Abaj Takalik; its ancient name may have been Kooja. It is one of several Mesoamerican sites with both Olmec and Maya features...
, Tikal
Tikal
Tikal is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centres of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the archaeological region of the Petén Basin in what is now northern Guatemala...
, Ujuxte
Ujuxte
The site of Ujuxte is the largest preclassic site to be discovered on the Guatemalan Pacific coast. It is in the Retalhuleu Department, in western Guatemala.-Site:...
, El Balsamo, Los Cerritos and La Nueva in Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, Chalchuapa in El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
, and Copán in Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
. This represents 42% of sites with potbelly sculptures. If pedestals are equivalent to thrones then Bilbao
Bilbao (Mesoamerican site)
Bilbao is a Mesoamerican archaeological site about from the modern town of Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa in the Escuintla department of Guatemala. The site lies among sugar plantations on the Pacific coastal plain and its principal phase of occupation is dated to the Classic Period...
Monument 58 is also relevant, which was found associated with a four-legged stone altar or throne and may originally have been positioned on top of it.
The diversity of monuments falling within the potbelly sculptural tradition and the individuality of the monuments support the argument that the monuments represent individual rulers. The monuments may have been viewed by the ancient peoples of the region as a depiction of both rulership and their ancestors.
Distribution
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
slope of southern Mesoamerica from Chiapas
Chiapas
Chiapas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas is one of the 31 states that, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 118 municipalities and its capital city is Tuxtla Gutierrez. Other important cites in Chiapas include San Cristóbal de las...
in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, through Guatemala to El Salvador, as well as in the Guatemalan highlands. A few examples have been found further afield in the Maya lowlands
Geography of Mesoamerica
The geography of Mesoamerica entails the physical and human geography of Mesoamerica, a culture area in the Americas inhabited by complex indigenous pre-Columbian cultures exhibiting a suite of shared and common cultural characteristics. Several well-known Mesoamerican cultures include the Olmec,...
of Guatemala and Honduras. A ceramic potbelly figure was found as far away as Colha in northern Belize and has been dated to c.880–600 BC, in the Middle Preclassic
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
.
| Area | No. of monuments | % |
|---|---|---|
| Chiapas (Pacific slope) | 4 | 4% |
| Guatemala (Pacific slope) | 51 | 55% |
| Guatemala (highlands) | 19 | 21% |
| El Salvador (Pacific slope) | 8 | 8% |
| Maya lowlands | 5 | 5% |
| unknown | 6 | 7% |
The core of the distribution area falls within a humid piedmont
Foothills
Foothills are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills to the adjacent topographically high mountains.-Examples:...
zone with the land consisting of volcanic soil and rubble carried down from the mountains, with naturally occurring basalt boulders of varying sizes that provided a practical raw material for sculpture. Potbelly sculptures are found in prominent ceremonial centres.
Chiapas (Mexico)
| Site | No. of monuments |
|---|---|
| Izapa Izapa Izapa is a very large pre-Columbian archaeological site located in the Mexican state of Chiapas; it was occupied during the Late Formative period. The site is situated on the Izapa River, a tributary of the Suchiate River, near the base of the Tacaná volcano), the fourth largest mountain in... |
1 |
| La Unidad | 2 |
| Tonala Tonalá, Chiapas Tonalá is a town and one of the 119 Municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico.As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 78,438. It covers an area of 1766.2 km².... -Tapanatepec |
1 |
Guatemala
Monte Alto culture
Monte Alto is an archaeological site on the Pacific Coast in what is now Guatemala.-History:Located 20 km southeast from Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa in Escuintla, Monte Alto was occupied as early as 1800 BC, but has a fairly light presence – less than either El Bálsamo or Los Cerritos Sur located...
, Bilbao and El Baúl
El Baúl
El Baúl is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site in present-day Escuintla Department, Guatemala. El Baúl, along with the sites of Bilbao and El Castillo, is part of the Cotzumalhuapa Archaeological sites Zone. It is in the prehistoric Formative stage of the Americas.-Site:The El Baúl acropolis is...
. The earliest examples of potbellied monuments have been dated to the Middle Preclassic, with the majority dating to the Late Preclassic.
Well-preserved examples of Late Preclassic potbelly sculptures have been found at Bilbao, on the coastal plain, and at Kaminaljuyu in the Guatemalan highlands. A small potbelly monument has been found at the major Maya city of Tikal in the lowlands of Petén
Petén Basin
The Petén Basin is a geographical subregion of Mesoamerica, located in the northern portion of the modern-day nation of Guatemala, and essentially contained within the department of El Petén...
in Guatemala.
| Zone | Site | No. of monuments |
|---|---|---|
| Highlands Guatemalan Highlands The Guatemalan Highlands is an upland region in southern Guatemala, lying between the Sierra Madre de Chiapas to the south and the Petén lowlands to the north.... |
Antigua Guatemala | 1 |
| Kaminaljuyu | 15 | |
| Lake Atitlan Lago de Atitlán Lake Atitlán is a large endorheic lake in the Guatemalan Highlands. Atitlan is recognized to be the deepest lake in Central America with maximum depth about 340 meters. The lake is shaped by deep escarpments which surround it and by three volcanos on its southern flank... |
1 | |
| San Juan Sacatepéquez | 1 | |
| Santa Cruz del Quiché | 1 | |
| Pacific coast | El Balsamo | 1 |
| El Baúl | 1 | |
| Bilbao | 3 | |
| Chiquimulilla Chiquimulilla Chiquimulilla is a municipality in the Santa Rosa department of Guatemala. It is located about from the Pacific coast.The city is an important regional trade location and junction. The most important products are leather goods. Chiquimulilla has 12,700 inhabitants.Some descendants of the Xinca... |
5 | |
| Los Cerritos | 3 | |
| Chocolá Chocolá 200px|right|thumb|Modern village of Chocolá Chocolá is a Preclassic Southern Maya site whose developmental emphasis was from ca. 1000 BC to AD 200... |
1 | |
| La Concepción | 3 | |
| Finca Solola (Tiquisate Tiquisate Tiquisate is a a municipality in the Escuintla department of Guatemala.... ) |
3 | |
| Giralda | 2 | |
| La Gomera La Gomera, Escuintla La Gomera is a municipality in the Escuintla department of Guatemala.... |
3 | |
| Monte Alto | 6 | |
| La Nueva | 2 | |
| Obero | 2 | |
| Pasaco | 2 | |
| Sin Cabezas | 4 | |
| Takalik Abaj | 8–11 | |
| Ujuxte | 2 | |
| Maya lowlands | San Bartolo San Bartolo (Maya site) San Bartolo is a small pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site located in the Department of Petén in northern Guatemala, northeast of Tikal and roughly fifty miles from the nearest settlement... |
1 |
| Tikal | 1 |
There is some variation in the exact features, those at Kaminaljuyu have fat bodies with short, thick necks and large heads, sometimes wearing a wide collar. The faces are depicted with incised lines and are heavy and coarse. The legs curve around the body parallel to the ground and the arms are clasped against the torso with the elbows bent. Kaminaljuyu has the greatest concentration of potbelly scultures in any site, with several of them found concentrated in the Palangana monument plaza.
Large potbelly monuments have been found at Giralda, a site 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the Pacific coastline.
Potbelly sculptures from Sin Cabezas are stylistically related to Olmec sculpture but were reused by later peoples, being found in fill
Fill (archaeology)
In archaeology fills are contexts representing material that has accumulated or has been deposited into a cut feature such as ditch or pit of some kind...
dating to the Late Classic
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
period. The monuments at Sin Cabezas were headless when they were found and no fragments of the missing heads were evident, suggesting that they had already been damaged when they were re-erected by later occupants of the site.
At Takalik Abaj the potbelly style monuments all date to the Late Preclassic. Stylistically, the monuments are very similar to those of Kaminaljuyu and Monte Alto. Seven monuments are potbelly sculptures (Monuments 2, 3, 19, 40, 69, 94 and 117), six of these represent complete figures. Three monuments are small potbelly sculptures (Monuments 100, 107 and 109) and one sculpture is a colossal head in potbelly style (Monument 99).
Honduras
At Copán in Honduras, another important Maya site, archaeologists found a potbelly sculpture on top of the Northwest Platform, to the west of the Great Plaza. Another was found in a cache under Stela 4. Further potbelly monuments have been found in caches under Late Classic stelaeMaya stelae
Maya stelae are monuments that were fashioned by the Maya civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. They consist of tall sculpted stone shafts and are often associated with low circular stones referred to as altars, although their actual function is uncertain. Many stelae were sculpted in low relief,...
in the Great Plaza itself and throughout the Copán valley.
| Site | No. of monuments |
|---|---|
| Copán | 2+ |
El Salvador
A small example excavated from underneath the Late Preclassic levels of Structure E3-1 at Chalchuapa in El Salvador may date to the Middle Preclassic. Three potbelly monuments were found resting on a large terrace in Santa Leticia in El Salvador, a site near Chalchuapa consisting of various mounds and platforms. These monuments were large and especially obese. Santa Leticia Monuments 1 and 3 were important in securely dating the potbelly style of sculpture. The El Salvador potbellies conform to the Monte Alto style of boulder sculpture.| Site | No. of monuments |
|---|---|
| Cara Sucia Cara Sucia (Mesoamerican site) Cara Sucia is a Mesoamerican archaeological site in western El Salvador. The site was first settled in the Preclassic period and was finally abandoned around AD 900, in the Terminal Classic, when the Pipil people moved into the region, although there is no evidence of Pipil occupation at the site... |
1 |
| Chalchuapa | 3 |
| Santa Leticia | 3 |
| Teopán | 1 |
In Chalchuapa, potbelly monuments were grouped in the El Trapiche ceremonial centre.
Santa Leticia Monument 1 is a nearly spherical potbelly sculpture and the smallest of the three potbelly monuments at the site, measuring 1.6 metres (5.2 ft) high. Monument 2 is a massive 2 metres (6.6 ft) high potbelly that has been split in half down the middle. Monument 3 is a finely carved potbelly figure with stylistic affinities to some of the sculptures found at Monte Alto in Guatemala, it measures 1.8 metres (5.9 ft) high. All three sculptures measured 1.5 to 2 m (4.9 to 6.6 ft) in height and diameter. The monuments were arranged in a north-south line on a 70 metres (229.7 ft) wide terrace projecting from a hill, Cerrito de Apaneca.
The Teopán potbelly clearly represents a female figure and has been interpreted as the sculpture of a Late Preclassic earth goddess. Teopán itself is a small site located on an island in Lake Coatepeque
Coatepeque Caldera
Coatepeque Caldera also known as Lago De Coatepeque is a volcanic caldera in El Salvador in Central America. The caldera was formed during a series of major rhyolitic explosive eruptions between about 72,000 and 57,000 years ago...
in western El Salvador. The site has been identified as that of Late Preclassic Maya settlement. Although the Teopán sculpture has typical Monte Alto-style traits such as closed puffy eyes, no neck, wrap-around arms, a clearly marked naval and grooves forming portions of the nose and mouth, it also includes some unusual features such as clearly indicated breasts, wide hips, buttocks and a 10 centimetres (3.9 in) concavity below the legs. The closed eyelids were later re-carved with the addition of two irregular oval concavities in order to represent open eyes, probably in the Postclassic Period
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
. The Teopán potbelly is likely to be the idol mentioned by Spanish Colonial official Diego García de Palacio in a letter written in 1576, in which he mentions that the Pipil natives on the island worshipped "a large stone idol in the form of a woman".