In Tlatilco, a Mesoamerican village that existed from
as early as 1200 BCE, excavations have revealed hundreds
of clay figurines at burial sites. These sculptures, which
often depict an exaggerated female form, are a curiosity for
art 1 historians, who, without written records to consult,
can only speculate about what these figures represented
in preliterate Tlatilco culture. 2 An especially puzzling
phenomenon that exists in many of the sculptures: women
portrayed with two heads or two noses and three eyes on
the same face. Several theories exist about these images, but
written records from nearby civilizations and other Tlatilco
art suggest the figures reflect a cultural fascination with
duality and the cycle of life.
Written records from cultures related to Tlatilco
reveal a recurring theme of duality. The mythologies of
the Mesoamerican, Nahuatl, and Maya cultures were filled
with observations about two-sidedness; 3 however, the
name of the Nahuatl culture comes from the Aztec word
meaning alter ego of a person or god. Through art, the
Aztecs explored the subject of duality as well as opposing
concepts such as light and dark or life and death. The two-
headed clay figures may have been an important token at
the burial site when people returned to the earth. 4 The
theory of duality in Tlatilco culture is a contentious one.
Dr. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank, an Art History professor at
Brooklyn College, believes that a half-human, half-skeleton
clay mask found at a Tlatilco burial 5 site, underscores
life’s dependence on death and the cycle between the two.
The theme of duality in this burial sculpture is especially
clear because its face is split between life and death.
6 Other art historians agree with Dr. Kilroy-
Ewbank’s assessment that the figures are a representation
of an abstract concept. Art historian Gordon Bederensky
claims the figures are some of the world’s first medical
sketches, depicting an affliction called dispropous, or facial
duplication. However, diprosopus is extremely rare, with
fewer than 50 documented 7 cases on record since the
mid-1800s. It’s possible that the disease 8 may have been
prevalent in ancient Mesoamerica, but no written records
from nearby civilizations give that indication. With over
300 burial figures found at Tlatilco, many of them with
bifurcated faces, extensive depictions of such an anomalous
ailment 9 seems unlikely.
When making observations about a culture that lacks a
written record, 10 you don’t really have a clue if theories
are correct. 11
as early as 1200 BCE, excavations have revealed hundreds
of clay figurines at burial sites. These sculptures, which
often depict an exaggerated female form, are a curiosity for
art 1 historians, who, without written records to consult,
can only speculate about what these figures represented
in preliterate Tlatilco culture. 2 An especially puzzling
phenomenon that exists in many of the sculptures: women
portrayed with two heads or two noses and three eyes on
the same face. Several theories exist about these images, but
written records from nearby civilizations and other Tlatilco
art suggest the figures reflect a cultural fascination with
duality and the cycle of life.
Written records from cultures related to Tlatilco
reveal a recurring theme of duality. The mythologies of
the Mesoamerican, Nahuatl, and Maya cultures were filled
with observations about two-sidedness; 3 however, the
name of the Nahuatl culture comes from the Aztec word
meaning alter ego of a person or god. Through art, the
Aztecs explored the subject of duality as well as opposing
concepts such as light and dark or life and death. The two-
headed clay figures may have been an important token at
the burial site when people returned to the earth. 4 The
theory of duality in Tlatilco culture is a contentious one.
Dr. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank, an Art History professor at
Brooklyn College, believes that a half-human, half-skeleton
clay mask found at a Tlatilco burial 5 site, underscores
life’s dependence on death and the cycle between the two.
The theme of duality in this burial sculpture is especially
clear because its face is split between life and death.
6 Other art historians agree with Dr. Kilroy-
Ewbank’s assessment that the figures are a representation
of an abstract concept. Art historian Gordon Bederensky
claims the figures are some of the world’s first medical
sketches, depicting an affliction called dispropous, or facial
duplication. However, diprosopus is extremely rare, with
fewer than 50 documented 7 cases on record since the
mid-1800s. It’s possible that the disease 8 may have been
prevalent in ancient Mesoamerica, but no written records
from nearby civilizations give that indication. With over
300 burial figures found at Tlatilco, many of them with
bifurcated faces, extensive depictions of such an anomalous
ailment 9 seems unlikely.
When making observations about a culture that lacks a
written record, 10 you don’t really have a clue if theories
are correct. 11