Bat-god urn

Date250 - 550 A.D.

Place Made DisplayMexico

MediumCeramic

Dimensions9 1/8 × 4 × 5 inches (23.2 × 10.2 × 12.7 cm)

CultureZapotec (Mexico)

ClassificationsCeramics

Credit LineGift of the Dr. Sidney Tamarin, Class of 1930, Trust

Terms

México
Ceramics
Ceramic
Bats
Gods
Loincloths
Oaxaca
Zapotec

Object number2000.116

Label CopyBRIEF DESCRIPTION This Zapotec ceramic urn represents a bat-god. WHERE WAS IT MADE? This urn was likely made in what is now the state of Oaxaca, in Mexico. This region was once the center of the Zapotec civilization. HOW WAS IT MADE? This urn was likely made using a combination of clay hand-building techniques. The bat figure itself may have been hand modeled by pinching and pressing the clay. The vessel behind the figure could have been formed from a flat, rolled out slab of clay, set upon a flattened clay disc. HOW WAS IT USED? This urn is likely an example of a funerary urn. The use of the term funerary does not mean that human remains were placed in them (no Zapotec urns have been discovered containing human remains). Instead, it refers to where these urns were placed: at the entrances to or within tombs. Most urns have been found empty, and show no signs of burning or use with fire, so were likely used to hold perishable funerary offerings of foods and beverages such as maize beer or pulque, an alcoholic drink made by fermenting maguey (agave). WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE THIS? Notice the upturned nose of this bat, as well as the open mouth and tongue. He also wears a loincloth, indicating male gender. Bats are symbolic of divine mediation, as incarnate nocturnal “monsters:” improbable, near-fantasy combination animals which fly like birds, suckle their young at paired breasts like humans, and have pronounced fangs like jaguars and other cats. Aspects of many different animals can be found on pre-Columbian pottery, textiles, and metalwork. They depict wild and domesticated animals, creatures commonly encountered in everyday life, and creatures found rarely—or not at all—in the natural world. These animals are often mixed with human attributes in what may appear to us to be startling fantasy combinations.

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