Female Figure

Softly shaped, this female figure stands upright with legs spread apart and bent arms covering her chest. Simple markings etched into the face create a reposed expression, while finely etched rows of hair frame her face in an elegant coiffure that falls above her shoulders. Though stiff in posture, her soft curves and stippling of her lower abdomen suggest her femininity. Traces of a terracotta-colored slip cover the figure’s body except for the face, similarly to Valdivia figure MMA 1988.117.2.

This female figure is one of many fascinating works from the Valdivia culture—one of the first civilizations in the Americas to produce figural representations around 3000 BCE. Some of the earliest figures were crafted from various stones, while later works like this were formed from clay and slip. While various styles of figurines appeared across the millennium throughout the region, continuities in visual elements such as reposed expressions and feminine characteristics remained. While the exact function of these figurines remains unknown, archaeologists have found these figures in both domestic and funerary settings. Perhaps relating to the ideas of production, progeny, and protection, they would have played a part in every phase of Valdivian life.

Carol Velandia, Adrienne Arsht Intern, 2025

References and Further Reading

Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. Valdivia Figurines. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004.

Estrada, Emilio. Nuevos elementos en la cultura Valdivia; sus posibles contactos transpacíficos. Guayaquil: Publicación del Sub-Comite Ecuatoriano de Antropología, Dependiente del Instituto Panamericano de Geografía e Historia, 1961.

García Caputi, Mariella. Las Figurinas de Real Alto: Reflejos de Los Modos de Vida Valdivia. 1ra. ed. Quito: Abya Yala, 2008.