Host figure

This hollow male figure with unusually long hair and a removable chest plate sits cross-legged, wearing only large earplugs and strands of beads. His conventionalized face, once painted red and with evidence of past inlays in the eyes and teeth, is similar to those of the greenstone masks nearby. The internal cavity “hosts” small, mold-made flowers and figurines—including warriors with shields, headdresses, and butterfly-shaped nose plugs—all meant to be seen when the chest plate was removed during rituals.  

Host figures are more commonly found in burials and offerings in Teotihuacan, but some have been recovered from as far away as West Mexico, Yucatán, and Guatemala. This example comes from the Pacific coast of Guatemala, underscoring the widespread connections that this powerful city had with other parts of Mesoamerica.