Two-headed Female Figurine

1200–400 BC

Two-headed Female Figurine, 1200–400 BC. Mesoamerica, Tlatilco. Ceramic, pigment; overall: 9.6 x 4.2 x 1.8 cm (3 3/4 x 1 5/8 x 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener 1990.141 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.