This piece presents complex problems to resolve because we have no information about its archaeological context. It is a stele, in Mesoamerican terminology this refers to a vertical sculpture, generally in bas-relief, made to be stuck in the ground, to stand as an image to be venerated in front of an altar, temple or tomb. The lower part of this piece, approximately a quarter part, does not have carvings and has some irregularities on its edges, making it clear that it was made to be fixed in the ground.
The chronological and geographical location of this piece is not completely clear. It could be possible to reach some conclusions within a few years if we continue to study it in comparison with other Mesoamerican pieces.
There are no elements in the stele to make it possible to place it in the Post-Classic period. The motifs that appear on it already existed in the Classic and some are characteristic of the Late Classic or Epiclassic periods.
The color of the stone and some aspects of the style, such as the framing of each sculptured face, reminds us of Xochicalco. The succession of undulating shapes on one of the sides of the stele is similar to the decoration in Xochicalco, while its origin is on the Gulf Coast and the Tajin culture. The sitting figure, which takes up the majority of the stele, has the same headdress with the symbol of the year that the priests in the temple of Quetzalcoatl in Xochicalco wore. Lastly, on the right side of the stele there is a rather crudely carved skull, the act of closing it in a square frame, creating a cartridge, and the way in which a set of feathers come out from the cartridge, coincides with the Xochicalco style, and particularly that of its steles.
Does this mean that this stele is from Xochicalco? Not necessarily, but of the Mesoamerican sites that we know Xochicalco is where we could find most answers for this stele.
This stele seems to represent a ruler, who we see seated on a small throne with short staggered legs. In addition to the rich earring and necklace, the person is wearing a headdress with the symbol of the year. With a slightly bent left arm and the extended palm he presents an object or symbol which is difficult to identify, perhaps it is a glyph for "house" or another headdress.
The undulating forms, on the left hand side, generally refer to the flow of a liquid, water or blood. On the right hand side there is no doubt that we have a skull inside a cartridge and some feathers on the top part. The most difficult part of this monument to understand is the poor carving of this skull, and also the lack of skill with which in the circles under the skull were made.
If the skull represents a calendar date "death" the strip immediately below it could be the bar for number 5, in which case, upon adding the three points below the bar, we would have the number 8. Once again, the combination of bars and points would be a feature that connects this piece with those from Xochicalco.
What tradition does the design in the shape of a cross, which form the five points on the lower left hand side follow? This is one of the problems that we are yet to resolve.
This piece presents complex problems to resolve because we have no information about its archaeological context. It is a stele, in Mesoamerican terminology this refers to a vertical sculpture, generally in bas-relief, made to be stuck in the ground, to stand as an image to be venerated in front of an altar, temple or tomb. The lower part of this piece, approximately a quarter part, does not have carvings and has some irregularities on its edges, making it clear that it was made to be fixed in the ground.
