Potbelly sculpture
Zone Site No . of monuments
Highlands Antigua Guatemala 1
Highlands Kaminaljuyu 15
Highlands Lake Atitlan 1
Highlands San Juan Sacatepéquez 1
Highlands Santa Cruz del Quiché 1
Pacific coast El Balsamo 1
Pacific coast El Baúl 1
Pacific coast Bilbao 3
Pacific coast Chiquimulilla 5
Pacific coast Los Cerritos 3
Pacific coast Chocolá 1
Pacific coast La Concepción 3
Pacific coast Finca Solola ( Tiquisate ) 3
Pacific coast Giralda 2
Pacific coast La Gomera 3
Pacific coast Monte Alto 6
Pacific coast La Nueva 2
Pacific coast Obero 2
Pacific coast Pasaco 2
Pacific coast Sin Cabezas 4
Distribution -- Guatemala
Monument 109 at Takalik Abaj , a small potbelly sculpture . [ 17 ] Examples have been found at many sites on the Pacific coast of Guatemala including Takalik Abaj , Monte Alto , Bilbao and El Baúl . The earliest examples of potbellied monuments have been dated to the Middle Preclassic , with the majority dating to the Late Preclassic . [ 1 ] Well-preserved examples of Late Preclassic potbelly sculptures have been found at Bilbao , on the coastal plain , and at Kaminaljuyu in the Guatemalan highlands . [ 18 ] A small potbelly monument has been found at the major Maya city of Tikal in the lowlands of Petén in Guatemala . [ 19 ]
Potbelly sculptures, (Spanish barrigones pl. or barrigón sing. ), are in-the-round sculptures of obese human figures carved from boulders. They are a distinctive element of the sculptural tradition in the southern Maya area of Mesoamerica. The precise purpose of potbelly sculptures is unknown, although they appear to have been the focus of public veneration and ritual directed by the ruling elite. Although this sculptural tradition is found within the southern Maya area, it has been recognized that the sculptures themselves are non-Maya.