This cup is unique in its type; there are other stone cups in Mesoamerica but none, that we know of, in this same material and with the same shape. There are some cups made of onyx, obsidian, jade and other materials.
It is known that the first recipients used by the settled villages of Mesoamerica had been made of basketry. Lining these baskets with soil to withstand the heat of the fire would have been one of the paths that led to the development of pottery. Perhaps it is due to this remote origin, but without a doubt also due to the presence of basketry in Mesoamerican homes, that ceramic recipients should imitate the shapes of their basketry ancestors. And something similar seems to happen with this stone vessel. Its shape recalls, above all, a flexible type of basketry, of small baskets that were hung, like a backpack is hung, with a cord to be carried on one's back. This type of basket is known in the Nahuatl language as tanatli, hispanicized as “tanate.”
This stone vessel has enormous technical merit, especially considering it belongs to a very early stage of Mesoamerican history. On the one hand it was necessary to carve out almost ten centimeters to create the cavity, with no instruments other than a stone drill. Normally that drill was used to penetrate and start the cuts, but then the grooves and cavities had to be achieved by grinding with friction from other stones. It is unlikely that in a piece like this one, in which very thin walls were intended, that chiseling would have been used: the piece would have broken. For that reason one can suppose that grinding with friction with another, harder stone was used, that would work like a file. In addition, the vessel was polished until a surface was achieved that was not just smooth, but even shiny.
Strikingly, this stone vessel has two holes, very close to each other, near the edge. Everything indicates that they were made so that the vessel could be hung with a string. Because of its size, and considering the habitual use of these types of holes, one would think that the vessel was designed to hang from the neck and on the chest of a person, most likely when performing a ritual. The vessel must have contained a substance, for example tobacco or copal.
This cup is unique in its type; there are other stone cups in Mesoamerica but none, that we know of, in this same material and with the same shape. There are some cups made of onyx, obsidian, jade and other materials.
