Extra bit 1: the wheeled figurines are often called toys, despite the fact that there is no evidence whatsoever that they were used by children. They are usually of animals that had heavy significance in the supernatural realm for Mesoamerican cultures, and the ones that have survived with part of their paint intact were painted in colours that likewise had supernatural significance. And yet they haven't been found in temples, so exactly what they were for remains a bit of a mystery. A lot of the surviving examples were looted by collectors, which doesn't help when trying to figure out what they meant and how they were used. They seem to have stopped being made a few centuries before the Spanish arrived. See here: http://www.famsi.org/.../Tula&wheeled_animal_effigies.pdf)
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Date: 2021-08-04 02:28 pm (UTC)