Miniature Village Scene

Exploring the Early Americas The Jay I. Kislak Collection

Pre-Contact America | Explorations and Encounters | Aftermath of the Encounter

Urban Landscapes | Ritual, Ceremonies, and Celebrations | Language and Context | Recording History | The Heavens and Time

House model
West Mexico. Nayarit. 200 BC–AD 300
Painted buff ceramic
Jay I. Kislak Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (1A)

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This is one of the smallest West Mexican ceramic "village scenes" known. Mounted on a circular slab of clay is a tiny thatched roof house model of typical proportion and six oversized (in relation to the house) seated human figures. In the center is a multi-pronged cactus effigy and some stacked foodstuffs.