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Seated figure
carved green stone (albitite)
c. 900-300 BCE
Olmec culture
Mexico

#handmade #carved #greenstone #albitite #seated #figure #olmecfigure #olmecculture #mesoamerica #ancientmexico #mexico #fertilityfigure #conchshell #water #plants #feathers #vegetation #agriculture #precolumbian #art
Like their contemporaries, the Olmec made figurines but of greenstone rather than clay. This one, whose identity and use are mysterious, holds objects that may address nature's fertility: on the right, perhaps a cut conch shell that refers to water, and on the left, what may be a plant or a bundle of green feathers that symbolizes new vegetation.
June 24, 2026 at 3:30 PM
patrickkapty.bsky.social
Fertility Figure
carved limestone
c. 3500-2000 BCE
Valdivia culture
Ecuador

#handmade #carved #stone #fertilityfigure #ValdiviaCulture #Ecuador #ancientart #art #sculpture #fertility #religion #ritual #belief #precolumbian #prehispanic #ancientsculpture #sculpture #figurine #ancestor #shamanistic
The Valdivia culture is one of the oldest settled cultures recorded in the Americas. It thrived along the coast of Santa Elena peninsula in Santa Elena Province of Ecuador between 3500 BCE and 1500 BCE. The Valdivia lived in a communities that built houses in a circular or oval pattern around a central plaza. They are believed to have been organized in a relatively egalitarian culture of sedentary people who lived mostly from fishing, although they did some farming and occasionally hunted for deer to supplement their diet. From the archeological remains that have been found, it has been determined that Valdivians cultivated maize, kidney beans, squash, cassava, chili peppers, and cotton plants. The cotton crop was processed, spun, and woven to make clothing. The Valdivia figurine tradition represents the earliest known example of this form of artistic expression in the Americas. Initially produced from stone, these tiny statuettes have been interpreted as fertility figures, shamanic spirits, and mythical ancestors, although their precise meaning remains uncertain. Typically female, early stone figurines varied in form from simple engraved tablets to carefully carved miniature sculptures. Most likely female, the figure's face is formed by a series of incised lines. Breasts or perhaps arms protrude at front. A small cleft and an incised line at bottom indicate the legs. Although ceramic figurines eventually came to replace stone figures in Valdivian culture, many of the traits were based on their stone predecessors.
August 19, 2026 at 12:43 PM
patrickkapty.bsky.social
Ngwomo shrine figure
carved wood
62 cm / 24.4" tall
Ibibio Eket people
Southern Nigeria

#ibibio #eket #ngwomo #puppet #nigeria #africa #africanart #artwork #ritual #religion #fertilityfigure #ala #earthmother #ethnography #tribalart #design #form #material
This impressive figure was created by Eket masters, an Ibibio sub-group centered around the town of Eket in the delta region of the Kwa river. It represents a mythological earth mother called Ala. At least three individual Eket artists or workshops are mostly known from the Ogbom performance calling attention to Ala and her role in human and agricultural fertility.
July 2, 2025 at 2:16 PM