MEXICO
1. Spear-thrower, atlatl
TARASCAN
2–6. Pottery from Guadalajara
ZAPOTEC
7–9. Funerary vases, from Oaxaca
(Scale: 1, ⅙th; 2–9, ⅛th)
Mixed with the lowest layers of fragments of this type, are ruder remains of a different character. This pottery is yellow or red and often unburnished, though a red or white slip is sometimes found; it is thick and not so well baked, and moulded rims are common. The ornament consists in bands or knobs in relief, and in series of incised lines or circles. Vase-feet are found in numbers, and occasionally handles, often in the form of a human hand. Pottery figurines are frequent, but of a type different from those of the superior cultures; they are hand-made, with applied details, the heads are long, the waists narrow and the thighs exaggerated. For the most part they are represented in the nude, and red and white paint is used as ornament. The close correspondence which these remains bear to those of the Tarascans (Pl. [XVII, 2–6]) described below, seems to prove that before the blossoming of the “Toltec” culture, the valley was peopled by tribes similar in ethnography to the inhabitants of Michoacan. With regard to the relative positions of these three types of remains, it should be mentioned that at Azcapotzalco the earliest and coarsest occupied a stratum of 2·10 metres and it must be concluded that the culture which they represent was of some considerable duration; while their overlapping with the superimposed Teotihuacan types, indicates a gradual change from the one to the other. The Teotihuacan stratum was found to be no less than 3·25 metres in thickness, representing an even longer period; while the “valley” type occurs on the surface and to a depth only of 0·40 metres, and shows no overlapping with the remains below, thus indicating an abrupt transition.
The Tarascan remains (Pl. [XVII, 2–6]) which are found in numbers from Lake Pazcuaro to Lake Chapala, bear a close resemblance to the fragments from the lowest strata of the valley. The paste is usually well-mixed, but not so well fired as the Aztec and Teotihuacan ware, and constantly shows at a fracture a dark line at the core, the properly baked portion being in the main a greyish buff. A burnished red slip is often employed, with pattern in white, the latter being frequently furnished with an incised outline. The most common shapes are vases and bowls with three solid or cascabel feet, the latter enclosing rattles, vases with moulded bodies or in human or animal form, and plain vases with rounded bases, a feature uncommon throughout the rest of the area which forms the subject of this section. Bowls with incised bottoms, to serve as graters, are common, and the incised lines are sometimes arranged swastika-wise, a feature found again in Cuicatlan pottery. Miniature tripod bowls to use in connection with the spindle also occur, and the painted ornament of these and larger vessels shows a tendency to asymmetry. In the Tarascan area, extending far to the north, are found occasional vases in the clay “champ-levé” described above, together with traces of the brilliant blue-green ornament. Figurines of all sizes are common in this area, often covered with a red slip and painted black and white. Many of these represent men and women engaged in their ordinary occupations, and illustrate well the shoulder-cloaks, large ear-rings and head-bands worn by this people. Some are flat and solid, others hollow, but most show elongated heads, and often exaggerated thighs and slender waists.
