Cleveland Museum of Art

Two-headed Female Figurine

Date

1200–400 BCE

Medium

Ceramic, pigment

Culture

Mesoamerica, Central Mexico, Tlatilco

Department

Art of the Americas

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

This ceramic figurine—in the style of Tlatilco, an early village site in central Mexico—depicts a female with two heads and stubby arms. Since many figurines from the period depict females, modern interpreters usually connect them to fertility concerns. Here, however, the physical abnormalities may indicate a relationship with the supernatural realm. Double-headed figurines may reflect the belief that interaction between two basic principles gives rise to the universe.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.