320 - Tuamaco-La Tolita Culture, 700 BC to 300 AD.

Tuamaco-La Tolita Culture, 700 BC to 300 AD. Terracotta Height: 12 cm Provenance: Family bequest from Ramon Martí Alsina and Ricard Martí Aguiló. An archaeological collection assembled beginning in the 1950s by successive generations of the family through acquisitions at European galleries and auction houses. This piece belonged to the English collection. The Tuamaco-La Tolita culture was located in the coastal region of Ecuador and Colombia. This statuette depicts a female chieftain or shaman in the typical seated position with her hands on her knees, wearing a headdress and adornments that denote high rank. The Tuamaco-La Tolita culture is one of the few cultures in which women are believed to have held important positions within the social structure, as they were depicted individually and with the characteristics of high-ranking dignitaries, separate from male figures and without apparent symbols of fertility—which were the most common representations of women in these cultures. It is made of terracotta.