SET IN STONE

N AN EXHIBIT CALLED , or the , at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, a stone statue of a woman holds pride of place. Including a base that was once buried in the ground, the statue stands some 6.5 feet tall and measures just over three inches front to back. The woman wears a long skirt that reaches her ankles and a loincloth decorated with three knots. Around her neck is an oval pendant of a type that would have been made from a decorated limpet shell. Most striking of her accoutrements is her headdress, which is tall, two-tufted, and flowing. Among its intricate parts is a diadem, which would have been strung with flat, round beads, as well as tassels that echo the design of the tufts. Her torso is bare, and she wears armbands. Her hands are folded at her abdomen. She has arched eyebrows and a downturned mouth that is slightly open, as if she has just begun to speak. Her eye sockets are empty, but they may have originally been inlaid with colorful stones or black obsidian.