Men standing

Toward the end of the Preclassic, a phenomenon of drastic regional differentiation in many aspects of the culture occurred, most significantly in art. The unifying tendency surrounding the Olmec features of the Middle Preclassic gave way to another with clear stylistic, technical and thematic definitions in the works of the regions.

The Mezcala tradition is one of these strong regional expressions of identity. We speak of a Mezcala tradition, and not just a Mezcala style, for several reasons: because there is a certain internal variety within Mezcala pieces, which we could call sub-styles; because the formal features of these works are present over a long period of 700 years or more; and because, in spite of the internal variations, there are technical, thematic and typological components that connect all pieces of this tradition.

The Mezcala tradition is recognized in stone carvings, and among its main features are the high level of abstraction in the design and their use for burial purposes.

The group comprised of pieces 441, 442, 481, 962 and 978 represents some of the pieces that are more easily recognized as “Mezcala”. They include men standing with both arms on their abdomen. They are very symmetric figures, as those of this tradition tend to be. The majority of body and facial features are suggested through lines; eyes, lips, and even fingers and toes are indistinguishable, and there are no visible gestural expressions of any kind. The clearest body language would be, in all cases, the gesture of placing the arms on the stomach. We find this gesture in Western burial figures, and it seems to be somewhat different from the gesture of worship with the arms crossed over the chest.

The heads of the majority of these figures adhere to a pentagonal scheme, which is one of the most common forms in the design of the Mezcala human figure. The base of the pentagon forms the upper part of the head, and the chin coincides with the peak of the pentagon.