Hair, hairstyles and ornamentation with added elements are often a fundamental attribute of a person's identity and status. In ancient Mexico, the Tlatilco culture is among those that favored the artistic representation of female beings with attractive hair arrangements, which have important meanings in the Mesoamerican worldview.
The Tlatilco culture is located in the middle phase of the period known as Pre-Classic; its settlements are distributed in areas in the western and southern sectors of the Texcoco, Xochimilco and Chalco lake basins, in places that are currently located in the states of Mexico and Morelos. The village of Tlatilco, from which this society takes its name, is located in the state of Mexico.
This work exhibits the stylistic modality called D1, which is characterized by a small format of human images, usually in an upright position, approximately 7 to 13 cm in height. The structure is solid, the legs conical and the figuration of details is concentrated on the front. The women who predominate in its iconography have wide hips and thighs, as well as a viariety of hairstyles and headdresses.
The large size of the head confirms its importance in the message that this art wanted to convey, since there is a system of proportions in which the total height of each human figure is 3 or 3.5 heads. The elongated shape and the flattening of the back suggest a kind of permanent physical alteration during early childhood, which physical anthropological analyses identify as a recurring practice in Tlatilco society: skull modification in the variant called “tabular erect”.
In this work, and others of its kind, the skill and subtlety with which the artists diversified the hair is remarkable. Hair has been delicately crafted through a combination of sculpting, pastillage, incision and painting techniques. The hairstyles consist of braids arranged like a headband, or spiral braids that hang down the sides of the head and reach the shoulders or are extended to cover the bare breasts; there are also limp ringlets on the front of the torso that even go beyond the waist. They have protruding locks of hair that cover the top of the head and hang like bangs over the forehead; some add a horizontal band to their headdress, either plain or with circular applications, like jewelry. With naturalistic intentions, the hair can be seen smooth or with fine straight incisions, vertically aligned or with a certain mobility.
In of interpretation, it is possible that it is an attribute of the vital power of the Tlatilquense women. The renowned historian Alfredo López Austin analyzed the intimate relationship between hair and tonalli; it is worth mentioning some of his arguments here, considering the worldview co-created over the centuries by the diverse peoples that made up Mesoamerica.
In his book Cuerpo humano e ideología (Human Body and Ideology), López Austin conceptualizes the tonalli as an entity that formed human beings, providing them with individual characteristics, which could be temporary. It was mainly located in the head, with the hair, and this was associated above all with the crown of the head. This again brings to mind the prominent locks in the upper central part of the head.
Hair, López Austin argues, was considered a receptacle of strength, forming a protective layer on the head and kept energy from leaving the tonalli. People who performed highly demanding roles, such as those in the priesthood and in transhumant trade, could neither cut nor wash their hair, as otherwise they would lose their vigor. There was also the desire or demands of the hair itself, which could be manifest by becoming tangled when combed, and to satisfy this the head had to be covered with a fruit paste.
In addition to the stereotypes of femininity and beauty, I suggest that in this sculptural art of the Tlatilquense culture, attention must be paid to its functions and symbolism, which, as noted, could be related to the vital energy of women in different orders. In this web of ideas, their long hair, in elaborate arrangements, manifests the self-control of their power.
