THE A.RCHAIC HORIZON 



51 



Archaic Figurines. Archaic art is characterized 

 by figures of men and women modeled in clay and some- 

 times painted. The forms are peculiar and the tech- 

 nique well standardized. Most are modeled in a flat 

 gingerbread fashion into a gross shape. Upon this 

 gross shape special features are indicated by stuck-on 



Fig. 13. Figurines from the Earliest Culture Horizon in Mexico: 

 Ltxcapotzalco; d, San Juan Teotihuacan; e, Tuxpan; /, Zapotlan; 

 a. Cueraavaca. 



ribbons and buttons of clay and by gougings and incis- 

 ings with some pointed instrument. Modeling was 

 done entirely by hand, moulds being as yet unknown. 

 The figurines are usually from two to five inches in 

 height and often represent nude women in sitting or 

 standing positions with the hands upon the knees, hips, 

 or breasts. The heads are characteristically of slight 

 depth compared with their height, the limbs taper 

 rapidly from a rather plump torso and hands and feet 



