In Pre-Columbian times, there was a constant need to represent the environment, which is why animals, plants and water, among other elements, take possession of the images and acquire their own meaning to later become the symbols that reflect different ideas and beliefs.
Among these elements, the squash was one of the most important foods in the Mesoamerican diet. From very early times groups of hunter-gatherers appreciated this plant, especially because the seeds were an important source of protein that could be stored for long periods, which led to it being one of the most important plants in Mesoamerica. Its domestication took place in Oaxaca around 8000 B.C. and when sedentary societies began to develop, it became a fundamental product since almost the entire plant was used. The seeds, the flower and the fruit could be consumed, and even the shell of the squash was used as a container. All this gave the plant a versatility that few products could have.
This made its representation frequent in Pre-Hispanic societies. Just to mention some examples, we find the representation of the blooms of the plant in the stone engravings of Chalcatzingo. In Teotihuacan we find it in the mural paintings of the Temple of the Feathered Snails (Templo de los Caracoles Emplumados), and we find the representation of the fruit in pieces from the West and from Veracruz, just to name a few. In some cases, there is even the presence of the squash interacting with different figures, as is the case of piece 1448 "Man holding a squash and wearing mask on his head" from the Amparo Museum collection.
In the case of piece 1428, the squash is the main subject of the representation, which reinforces the importance of the plant. First, the piece was carved into a globular body composed of seven segments from which an inverted trapezoid protrudes, alluding to the flowering of the plant and, in the upper part, a spherical shape was carved to represent the gynoecium of the flower. Subsequently, the piece was carefully stuccoed and painted. The body of the piece was painted in red oxide, while for the flowering an ocher color was used, and the gynoecium was left white. The dedication to sculpt the piece and paint it shows us the importance of this plant in the Mesoamerican worldview, which along with other plants such as beans, chili and corn, had such value that they were deified by man and immortalized in works of art.
In Pre-Columbian times, there was a constant need to represent the environment, which is why animals, plants and water, among other elements, take possession of the images and acquire their own meaning to later become the symbols that reflect different ideas and beliefs.
