Female Figure 12th-10th century B.C. Tlatilco This solid, hand-modeled ceramic figurine is reddish buff in color. Its short arms are splayed to the sides and the legs are spread far apart. A tiny navel and small breasts are indicated on the front of the figure, and a skirt with hem continues to the backside. Pendant-like ears () flare slightly to either side of the face, and a fairly elaborate panel of hair with incised striations adorns the elongated head. Sculpted some three millennia ago in the Valley of Mexico, this figurine belongs to a group of ceramic effigies known collectively as the Tlatilco "pretty ladies." Depicting females with large heads, small waists, and prominent hips, these handheld sculptures present a fairly standardized body type and are typically fired to red, buff, or brown tones. As the popular embodiments of an ideal feminine form, the Tlatilco "pretty ladies" are part of a centuries-long tradition in which eccentricities and religious imagery predominate. Fe