page_title: Olmec figurine
section_title: Baby-face figurines
hierarchical_section_title: Olmec figurine / Baby-face figurines
caption_attribution_description: Olmec figurine, dark green serpentine, 1000 - 600 BCE, reportedly from Guerrero or Veracruz.&#91;1&#93; Inlays, since lost, once animated the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.&#91;2&#93; About 2.5 in (6 cm)
context_page_description: Olmec figurines are archetypical figurines produced by the Formative Period inhabitants of Mesoamerica. While not all of these figurines were produced in the Olmec heartland, they bear the hallmarks and motifs of Olmec culture. While the extent of Olmec control over the areas beyond their heartland is not yet known, Formative Period figurines with Olmec motifs were widespread in the centuries from 1000 to 500 BC, showing a consistency of style and subject throughout nearly all of Mesoamerica.
  These figurines are usually found in household refuse, ancient construction fill, and, outside the Olmec heartland, graves. However, many Olmec-style figurines, particularly those labelled as Las Bocas- or Xochipala-style, were recovered by looters and are therefore without provenance.
  The vast majority of figurines are simple in design, often nude or with a minimum of clothing, and made of local terracotta. Most of these recoveries are mere fragments: a head, arm, torso, or a leg. It is thought, based on wooden busts recovered from the water-logged El Manati site, that figurines were also carved from wood, but, if so, none have survived.
context_section_description: The "baby-face" figurine is a unique marker of Olmec culture, consistently found in sites that show Olmec influence, although they seem to be confined to the early Olmec period and are largely absent, for example, in La Venta.
  These ceramic figurines are easily recognized by the chubby body, the baby-like jowly face, downturned mouth, and the puffy slit-like eyes. The head is slightly pear-shaped, likely due to artificial cranial deformation.  They often wear a tight-fitting helmet not dissimilar to those worn by the Olmec colossal heads.  Baby-face figurines are usually naked, but without genitalia. Their bodies are rarely rendered with the detail shown on their faces.
  Also called "hollow babies", these figurines are generally from 25–35 cm (9.8–13.8 in) high and feature a highly burnished white- or cream-slip. They are only rarely found in archaeological context.
  Archaeologist Jeffrey Blomster divides baby-face figurines into two groups based on several features. Among the many distinguishing factors, Group 1 figurines more closely mirror the characteristics of Gulf Coast Olmec artifacts. Group 2 figurines are also slimmer than those of Group 1, lacking the jowly face or fleshy body, and their bodies are larger in proportion to their heads.
  Given the sheer numbers of baby-face figurines unearthed, they undoubtedly fulfilled some special role in the Olmec culture. What they represented, however, is not known.  Michael Coe, says "One of the great enigmas in Olmec iconography is the nature and meaning of the large, hollow, whiteware babies".
caption: An "elongated man" figurine, dark green serpentine. Inlays, since lost, once animated the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.[13]
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