These miniature sculptures were used as support pillars for elevated surfaces. These could include small altars, incense burners, or throne seats. The butterfly blazon over the chest marks these figures as warriors, like the Atlantes at the Venus Temple of Tula.
National Museum of Anthropology and History
The Serpent Wall forms the back side of the Venus Temple. In the middle band, the motif of a serpent swallowing a skeleton repeats itself along its length - likely a metaphor for the night engulfing Venus as it disappears from the sky, as an eight-day period of its observed orbital path. One of the things about Mesoamerican mythology that always fascinates me is the major influence astronomy has made, especially in the precise reading of regular cosmic events and their effects on the mundane world.
Tula
The pillars that used to support the now disintegrated roof at the top of the Venus Temple. More correctly, the temple was dedicated to the god of the planet Venus, or the 'Lord of the House of Dawn,' Tlahuizcalpanteuctli; the House of Dawn refers to the planet as the Morning Star. The four warrior pillars, called Atlantes, supported the roof as the first row of the roof's colonnade. They show the butterfly blazon, the Toltec warrior's emblem. The city of Tula stands in Hidalgo State, Mexico. The Toltecs had built up their society to its heyday between the tenth and twelfth centuries, before Chichimec invaders destroyed the already dwindling regime by the second half of the twelfth century.
Tula
The term "plumbate" is misleading because the gloss on these distinct pieces was achieved with a fine clay slip, and not with a lead glaze - in fact, there were no sources of lead in Mesoamerica! What is even more interesting is that these pieces were made of finely divided clays unique to southeastern Guatemala, implying that they were imported from the Maya. This would also explain the small Maya figure on the rim of the turkey vase. The image on the vase at right is a dog or coyote with a peculiar mohawk hairpiece. The vase at left has a handle shaped like a turkey's neck and head. These pieces were discovered in Acayuca, Hidalgo.
National Museum of Anthropology and History
The Toltec are among the most famous yet enigmatic civilizations of the ancient Americas. Although their capital at Tula peaked at a population between thirty-five- and sixty thousand, it was by no means the urban giant its predecessor Teotihuacan once became. However, as the Toltec rose to prominence their reputation would influence many of their contemporaries and successors, including the Aztec, Mixtec, and Chich'én Maya.
Tula
One of the most important changes that took place during the Post-Classic period was a widespread shift in political organization toward a council of delegates (with a sovereign kingship still in place). Architecture in the center of Tula followed this turn toward council, especially at the "Burnt Palace" beside the Venus Temple. Taken from atop the temple, this photo shows a set of benches within the perimeter, where the delegates would sit upon mats to discuss political matters.
Tula
While the popular term chac-mool comes from the Yucatec Mayan words for 'red hook,' the sculpture style originated with the Toltec. As with this example from Tula, the chac-mool sculpture usually appears as a reclining man with upturned back and a plate in its hands, a vessel to receive offerings to the gods. This sculpture tradition spread to the Yucatan peninsula, the Aztec empire, and even the P'urhépecha empire in Michoacan.
Tula Site Museum