During the Preclassic, the sedentary lifestyle opened a path to the development of agriculture and the rise of ceramics, converting both of these into the primary activities of these groups.
Artisans made use of clay to skillfully model objects that revealed their understanding of the world. The clay work brought with it the creation of pieces that are highly important sources of information. By observing and studying them, we are able to see part of the social, economic and religious life of this period. Through these figurines, we have been able to see the physical body types of women, men and children of this period. They also show maternal love, in the representations of women carrying their children, and they show diseases, with representations of dwarves, or pieces with deformities. Other figurines are wearing elaborate outfits, which are thought to be figures with shamanic functions.
As stated, these figurines have allowed us to see the physical body types of the population of this period, and each element of jewelry, clothing, headdress, paint, or any body modification carries with it a message about the social status, lineage, religious ideas and political affiliations of the figures represented.
An example of this is the batch of two figurines described below:
The first piece (718 -1) consists of the head of a figure; it is squared, in profile and appears to be flattened. In its face, we can see the details of its elongated eyes, which were made using an incision technique, while its pupils were made using a punch tool technique. The mouth, which is partially open, was made using an incision technique. The nose was placed using pastillage, it is pointed and we can see the nostrils. The eyebrows, which emphasize the facial expression, were made using an application technique. The ears, which were made using a punch tool, are lengthened and pierced. It has an elaborate hairstyle consisting of a thin band located on the forehead and highlighted using an incision technique. Above that, a number of punch tool marks are found on the head, and on top of the head we can see an elongated adornment with an incision and punch tool marks along the sides. Red pigment can be found on the face, specifically on the cheeks, in two thin vertical bands. The back of the piece's head has two incised lines between which red pigment can be found.
The second piece (718 -2) consists of the head of a figure; it is elongated, in profile, and tilted. In its face, we can see the details of its elongated eyes, which were made using an incision technique, while its pupils were made using a punch tool technique. The mouth, which is partially open, was made using an incision technique. The nose was placed using pastillage. The eyebrows, which are continuous and were made using an application technique, emphasize the facial expression. The ears are extended and feature earrings with a hole in them as part of the attire, which were made using a punch tool technique. It has an extended hairstyle with vertically arranged lines made with a punch tool technique. There are three circular tassels, one located in the middle of the top of the head and one on each side of the hairstyle. There is red-toned pigment on the hair and face. There are two vertical bands on the face crossing the left eye. We can also see traces of pigment around the mouth, right cheek and neck areas.
The upper part of the head has an incised component in the form of a triangle, the interior of which contains a red-toned pigment, possibly an iconographic element.
