1450 PRE-COLUMBIAN AZTEC VOLCANIC IDOL, Aztec Culture

The figure is a volcanic rock and is of a seated figure, legs drawn up, and hands folded on top of the knees.

The head is disproportionately large with facial features of slit eyes, a large protruding nose, and an open slit mouth.

The head has a pointed covering that covers the ears and trails down the back.

The base of the figure has a large chip on the left side and the base has been hewn to reveal the inner coloring of the volcanic rock.

The Pacific Ring of Fire stretches across 15 countries including Indonesia, Papa New Guinea, Philippines, Japan, United States, Chile, Canada, Guatemala, Russia and Peru.

The color of the volcanic rock is a brown to light brown with traces of a rust, red color, and is referred to as scoria.

The figure is of the Aztec Empire Culture. Many Aztec volcanic rock figures have been appropriated to the Late Olmec Culture Era.

The Olmec civilization is believed to have been centered around the southern Gulf of Mexico area and further southeast than the heart of the Aztec empire.

NOTES

A large volcanic field occupies the central part of the Mexican Volcanic Belt in the northeast part of the Valley of Mexico. The Apan-Tezontepec volcanic field covers portions of the state of Hidalgo, Tlaxcala, and Mexico. The vast majority of these are scoria cones. Aztec stone sculpture is the culmination of a long Mesoamerican tradition in the carving of items - from ordinary volcanic rock to highly prized semi-precious stone such as jade. The tradition began with the Olmec peoples of the Gulf Coast in the second millennium B.C., if not earlier. Literally, thousands of Aztec sculptures, ranging from intimately scaled, personal sculptures to public monuments have been found. The subject portrayals were many. Sculptures were of deity figures customarily shown in frontal view, females are frequently kneeling, while male figures are often sitting with their knees drawn up and their arms crossed upon them. Ageless faces, inlaid eyes, and half-open mouths lend them a lifelike look but lack individuality. Of grave expression, they portray Aztec ideas of female beauty and male strength.