Figure Item Number: Ni90 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
A red figure of an animal possibly resembling a fox or a dog. The animal is lying down with its back curved around and its forepaws curved forward and inward. Short stubby tail.
These types of hollow, naturalistic redware ceramics have been found in (often elaborate) shaft tombs, a mortuary structure unique to the western Mexican states of Colima, Nayarit and Jalisco. Some experts think the main figure found in such burials may represent a powerful, elite member of the society; other figures may depict retainers sacrificed to accompany that person in the afterlife. Other figures commonly depict warriors, pregnant women, acrobats, male and female couples both seated and standing, and women with children. (The end date of the period is in dispute.)